Never Knew I Needed
by Animelover5234
Summary: Anaya is the new cub in Mufasa's pride, trying to find her place in the pride. Once she meets the prince, Simba, her life starts to get better, but when Simba is exiled from the pride by Scar, his uncle, the Pridelands falls into ruins. Can Anaya bring Simba back to where he truly belongs, as King of Pride Rock, or will it be too late to relieve his guilt? Simba/OC
1. Prologue

**Hey, everyone! This is my story I'm writing so try not to be too harsh about my writing skills, ok? **

**So this story is a Lion King fic and it's called: "Never knew I Needed" and it's based off of the song 'Never Knew I Needed' by Ne-Yo and I'm really praying that you all like it. So without further ado, let's begin the story!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own 'The Lion King' cuz if I did, Mufasa would have never died.**

Prologue:

Fire…..Smoke…..Fear…..that was all I could see. Animals were running wild, trying to find their families through the dark abyss. Fire spread through the grass more and more, like a snake in the fields. Black smoke filled my lungs and choked my lungs, while making my eyes water. I couldn't see her anymore. Where is she? Where was my mother? I ran and called out her name as loud as I could, hoping to get some sort of sign that she was around here somewhere. I continued to search for her, but she was nowhere in sight. I turned my head towards left and right, east and west, squinting to see her and then I saw something that made my blood turn cold. It was two hyenas ripping and eating the flesh off of my mother with her blood smeared all over their muzzles. Tears formed in my eyes as I watched them devour her. Through my blurred vision, I noticed that one of the hyenas had a scar above its eyebrow and the other had a scar on its neck which, to me, was shaped like a lightning bolt. As the two hungry hyenas continued their meal, I quietly backed away from the scene and ran away. My tears spilled down my cheeks as I ran and blurred my vision even more.

She was gone.

Gone forever and never to return.

My mother had been a kind, caring lioness to those around even if they did shun her for not being the strongest, or the most courageous, or the bravest. And it made it worse when I was born because of how small I was and how weak I was too. She had shielded me from the hateful glances and looks from the other lionesses and had provided for me when I needed it. I will never forget her heart-warming smile whenever she told me something or when the other cubs made fun of me. Her smile alone was so beautiful, that it could melt the coldest of hearts, but now I would never see that wonderful smile again. How would I move on without her? How would I survive? Where would I go? These thoughts filled my mind and had distracted me that I slipped on a rock and fell down a steep hill. My body tumbled down the hill, earning cuts on my fur and it didn't stop until finally, I fell into a river. I tried to swim to the surface but it was no use. I wasn't a good swimmer and I knew that I was going to die in this water as I started to float into unconsciousness. I was losing oxygen fast and I no later did I start to feel my unconsciousness begin to take over. Even though I was drowning, I thought about my mother and how I would be reunited with her in the afterlife. I soon started to lose more of my breath until I felt the darkness take over my senses and my body giving up.


	2. Chapter 1

Hello, everyone once again! I'm feeling really good about my story, sooooo…I felt like writing my first chapter! XD Also I would like to thank author: Toxicswallow for being so kind about my story. It really made me want to continue. Sorry if there was any grammatical errors. So, once again as I said before: PLEASE! Don't be too harsh on my writing skills! So, anyways, let us continue with my first REAL. CHAPTER!

Chapter 1:  "The Circle of Life"

'Did I die?' I thought. And if I did die, where was mother? How come she's not here too? It was then that I heard something. It sounded like…..humming. Humming? Who could be humming in the afterlife? The humming started to get louder and louder as it neared me. I then felt something wet drop onto my face and then more drops fell. Was it raining? I didn't know that it rained in the afterlife? The humming finally ceased, but the droplets did not. In fact, they increased. They dropped more and more onto my face until I opened my eyes. My vision was blurry, but I could definitely make out a figure. It looked like a…..baboon? Why would a baboon be helping a lion? I'm a predator and he's the prey. What gives? I blinked my eyes a couple of times and licked my dry lips.

"W-Who are you?" I asked the monkey. He smiled at me, now that I could see clearly, and giggled.

"The question is who….are you?" He answered with a smile. I gave a nervous, small smile to him.

"Umm…well….m-my name is….Anaya." I told him.

"A beautiful name, I am Rafiki." He said proudly. I smiled at Rafiki and then looked around at my new surroundings, while I sat on something hard. My eyes soon widened in realization when I saw leaves all around me. I was sitting in a HUGE tree! I looked back at Rafiki who was looking for something, I guessed.

"D-Did you….save me, Rafiki?" I asked timidly. He looked at me, smiled and nodded his head.

"Dere' is no need to be frightened, young one. Rafiki means no harm." He said, before he went back to whatever he was looking for.

"Rafiki?" I said

"Hmm?" He replied, as if I had pulled him from a train of thought.

"Why did you save me?" I couldn't help but ask that question. Ever since I was born, all the other lionesses and cubs said that I was worthless and that I would never be a good lion. They told me that every single day that finally, I started to believe them. Rafiki looked sadly at me and answered: "Rafiki save you from river, because Rafiki saw your tragedy." I gasped at his revelation and looked down at my paws. That means that he must have seen me running away from the two hyenas that killed my…my…I couldn't even finish my thought of 'her'. A single tear ran down my cheek and onto my paw, as I thought of my now dead, mother. Rafiki must have seen me crying because he came over to me and gently rubbed my head. I looked up at him with tear-stained eyes and he smiled sympathetically at me.

"It is alright, young one. You will be okay, very soon." He said softly, but with sincerity in his voice. I nodded my head at him and gave him a watery smile. Rafiki gently rubbed the spot behind my ears to soothe me, which elicited a small purr from me. He smiled again and went over to the end of the tree. I got up from my sitting position and stretched my arms and legs out and walked over to where Rafiki was. From where I previously was, it looked like he was leaning against the tree, but as I came closer, I heard him humming to himself, which solved my earlier mystery of the humming while he kept moving his fingers along the tree. When I looked closer, I saw that he was painting a picture.

"What are you painting?" I asked curiously. Rafiki looked down at me with kind eyes before rubbing that spot behind my ears again, making me purr once again.

"A new friend." He replied as he returned back to his painting. I looked up at the painting and gasped when I saw that it was a painting of me! I was mesmerized at how beautifully done and creative he made the painting. I gazed at the beauty of his painting of me, of my light golden fur, my ocean blue eyes, everything. To say that I was stunned was an understatement. It was then that I noticed another picture alongside mine. I walked over to that picture and just stared at it. It was a picture of a golden-brown lion cub with beautiful reddish-brown, kind of rusty-colored eyes. Rafiki came over to me and stared up at the picture too.

"Who's that?" I asked. He smiled and giggled at me.

"Dis' is Prince Simba." He said. I gasped and looked up at him. He actually painted a picture of King Mufasa's son!

"Do you know the Prince?" He nodded his head.

"I know da prince's whole family." He replied as he grabbed some kind of long stick from one of the corners of this large tree.

"And soon, you will know dem' too." He said. I looked at him with confusion on my face. What did he mean that I would meet them soon?

"Come, young one. It is time."

"Time for what?" He smiled.

"Time for Anaya to meet her new family." He said and then leapt out of the tree.

"Wait!" I called and then started hopping from branch to branch to get down from the tree. When I finally landed on the ground, I saw that Rafiki was looking out towards something. I followed his gaze and my eyes widened as I looked at what Rafiki was staring at. It was a huge rock, I guess, that looked like two big rocks smashed together. The top rock was pointy-looking and extended towards the sky, while the other was flat, but was propped up by another rock. It kind of looked…majestic, in a way.

"What's that?" I asked Rafiki. He was still looking ahead at the pointy-rock, thing and smiled.

"Your new home", was all he said before he hopped up on a tree branch and started to swing away. 'My new home?' I thought. I was going to live there? Could I really live in a new home and… like it? I had already lost my old home and someone really close to my heart. Could I really risk opening my heart up to new family or would they be taken away from me just as my mother was. I looked up when Rafiki called my name and started running towards him.

"Come, young one. It is time for you to learn." He said as he swung away again. I ran faster to catch up with him.

"Time for me… to learn…what?" I panted as I ran. He giggled at me and swung farther away.

"To learn…The Circle…of Life!" He answered. Just as I was about to ask him what this 'Circle of Life' stuff was, I saw the sun starting to rise on the horizon.

"NANTS…INGONYAMA…BAGITHI BABA!"

"SITHI UHM…INGONYAMA"

"What's going on?" I asked Rafiki, but he just smiled and kept swinging along while I followed and listened.

"NANTS….INGONYAMA….BAGITHI BABA!"

SITHI UHM…INGONYAMA"

"INGONYAMA"

"INGONYAMA 'NENGEW' ENAMABALA" - (Continuous)

'What are they saying?' I thought as I ran and listened to the words.

"From the day we arrive on the planet, and blinking step into the sun"

"There's more to see, than can ever be seen. More to do, than can ever be done"

"There's far too much to take in here. More to find, than can ever be found"

Animals started running past us, looking like they were enjoying themselves and heading towards where Rafiki and I were going.

"Rafiki, why are-"

"Shhh…Hush now, young one and listen to the words." He said softly and I stopped myself from asking anymore questions for the time being.

"But the sun rolling high, through the sapphire sky,

keeps great and small on the endless rounds."

I looked ahead, until I saw it. It was the huge-pointed rock that I saw earlier. We were here.

"It's the Circle of Life!"

"And it moves us all. Through despair and hope, through faith and love, till we find our place." "On the path unwinding!"

Rafiki and I looked at each other and I smiled at him. I now understood what the Circle of Life was. Rafiki motioned with his head towards the big-pointed rock, which indicated for us to climb up. We climbed up and up the rock until we reached the platform of the rock.

"Come, young one. Follow old Rafiki." He said and I followed him into the cave of the rock.

"In the Circle…"

"The Circle of Life"

As we walked into the cave, I noticed many lionesses were staring at us and I started feeling my nervousness creep up on me. A big older-looking lion stood up and walked over to us with a smile on his face.

"Rafiki, it's good to see you again." The lion said as he wrapped his arm around Rafiki's back, pulling him close and Rafiki hugged him back. I watched in silence and awe between the two of them.

"How are you, old friend?" The lion asked and Rafiki smiled at him.

"Rafiki is well, but I bring someone with me." That's when all eyes were directed towards me and my shyness became more apparent. Rafiki looked at me and motioned for me to come. I shyly walked over to him and he introduced me.

"Dis' is Anaya. Rafiki find her and save her. She needs a home." He explained to the lion. The lion looked sympathetically at me and smiled.

"Dis' is King Mufasa."He said and once he said that, my eyes must'vegrown to the size of the moon. THIS WAS KING MUFASA?! Has Rafiki lost his mind?! King Mufasa bent his head down to my level and I blushed at his action, but he just smiled at me.

"It is very nice to meet you, Anaya."

"It's nice to meet you too, Your Majesty." I said shyly.

"Please, call me Mufasa." He asked softly and I nodded at him.

"How would you feel about joining my pride?" He asked. I contemplated the decision for a minute before coming up with my answer, but first I had to ask him something.

"I would really like to join your pride, but are you sure you wouldn't mind me being a part of your family? I don't want to burden you." Mufasa smiled softly at me.

"No sweet child, you will not burden me at all. I just want you to feel at home and I would love to have another member of my pride." He replied sincerely. I grinned widely at him and ran over to one of his legs and nuzzled it until I realized what I had just done. I started to move away from Mufasa until he started to nuzzle me back and it made me smile. I pulled away from Mufasa a minute later and ran to Rafiki, nuzzling him this time. He giggled at my sweet gesture, and picked me up to hug me.

"Thank you so much" I whispered. He patted my back and replied: "Rafiki was happy to help you," and then he set me down on the ground again.

"Rafiki must go now, but Rafiki will visit again soon." He said as he gave Mufasa one last hug before leaving the cave. I was about to turn around and greet the rest of Mufasa's pride when something, or should I say someone, knocked me down from behind. I was about to ask who this was when Mufasa scolded it.

"Simba", Mufasa said, "Be careful"

"Sorry, Dad. Oops, I'm sorry! Are you okay?" He asked when he noticed me on the ground. I stood up and shook my fur out.

"That's okay. I'm fine." He smiled at me with relief in his eyes.

"Well, that's good to hear. Hey, I've never seen you here before. Are you joining our pride?"

"Yep. I'm Anaya." I said

"Nice name. I'm Simba." He said with a grin. I blushed at his compliment, until something hit me. I was talking to the prince!

"Hey, do you wanna see something?" Simba asked

"Sure" I replied.

"Alright, then follow me" Simba said as he raced out of the cave. When I caught up with him, I actually saw how big this land really was once we were on the huge rock platform. Mufasa came up behind me and gazed at the scene as well.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Mufasa asked and I nodded because it truly was a beautiful sight.

"These are the Pridelands." Simba whispered into my ear and then the animals cheered when they saw the three of us.

"It's the Circle of Life"

"And it moves us all. Through despair and hope, through faith and love."

It was then that the light from the sun started to seep through the clouds and shined on Mufasa, Simba and I. I looked down at the animals on the ground and saw that they were bowing down and kneeling before us.

"Till we find our place!"

"On the path unwinding!"

The whole kingdom was literally admiring us. So this is what it feels like to be of royalty. Mufasa bent his head down next to mine and whispered to me: "Welcome home." I sat on my hind-legs and leaned my body against his leg. Mufasa was right, I was home. Now and forever.

"In the Circle…"

"THE CIRCLE OF LIFE!"


	3. Chapter 2 - Scar

**What's up, my wonderful viewers! Thank you for the very nice reviews, it made soooooo HAPPY! So, I'm very happy to hear about how good this story is turning out right now, by the way I'm adding Nala into the story because I need some drama between Simba, Anaya, and Nala. Don't worry, Simba's still gonna end up with Anaya but I just wanted him to have conflicted feelings that's all, so don't kill me! Also, I'm gonna start placing up other stories as well so I'm hoping that you guys will read them, cuz they're really good, but for now I'm gonna stick to this one ****. Alright, enough of me yapping away cuz here's Chapter 2!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Lion King cuz if I did, Scar would have never existed.**

**Chapter 2: "Scar"**

I was happy. I was extremely happy and content. I was happy with the new life and family I had been given and I was happy for the relief that came over me when Mufasa accepted me into the pride, but most of all, I was happy that one of the lionesses had adopted me. There was nothing better to an orphaned cub than to feel loved by a mother once again. Her name was Zahra, and when she offered to adopt as her own cub, I couldn't help but say yes and even cry tears of joy. When Zahra took me in, I asked if she had her own cubs that she cared for. She told me that she did, but the stories behind them were so heart-breaking that it put me to tears and I didn't even know them. Zahra told me that when she had her first cub, it died a week later, because its body was too weak. She said that the cub was a boy and his name was Kali. Her second cub was born 5 months later and it was a girl. She named her Mara, but Mara didn't last long either because one day, Mara went too far out of the Pridelands and by the time Zahra found her it was too late. Mara had fallen into a river and had drowned. Zahra told me that she cried for days over both of her cubs and their sudden deaths and thought that she would never be happy again. I felt so sorry for Zahra and the pain she went through of losing both of her cubs. I told her of how I became orphaned and immediately Zahra and I connected. We both knew what it felt like to lose someone you love and to feel like you would never be happy again, but thanks to Rafiki and Mufasa, Zahra and I helped each other heal over our tragedies. Zahra was amazing. She was warm, funny, sweet, caring, nurturing, kind and just about everything else a mother should be. I was so lucky to have her as my mother.

I turned my head towards the cave exit and looked out into the night. I felt the cool breeze brush against my fur making me shiver. I was curled up against Zahra and she tightened her grip on me when I shivered from the night air. Everyone else was still sleeping at the moment and I knew that in a couple more minutes, the sun would show on the horizon and everyone would have to get up soon. I nuzzled closer to Zahra and tried to make myself fall asleep, but it was no use. I couldn't clear my head of any thoughts I had and fall back to sleep because all I could think about was the encounter I had a couple of days ago, with someone I hopefully would never see again.

**4 DAYS AGO:**

Simba and I had now become great friends over the time I had been in the pride. It felt very strange and kind of foreign to me that I actually had a friend. I never had friends when I was with my old pride with my mother because all of them scolded me and was disgusted of me because of how weak and fragile I was. After the forest fire and my mother's death, the pride split up and I couldn't find them again and even if I did somehow find them, they would never accept me back. The only reason that I was in that pride and not killed off from the moment I was born was because of my mother. She was the eldest of the pride and the closest to our leader, so next to him, she had to be given respect too, although not all of them gave her the respect she deserved. But that was a different life. I was in a new pride and had a new family where everyone accepted me for who I was, but I still had that fear that one day that everyone would find out my secret and would never want to have anything to do with me ever again. I was pulled out of my thoughts when Simba suddenly pounced on top of me, pushing me to the ground. I scowled at him and threw myself at him, causing him to fall on his back. I smirked at his shocked face.

"That's what you get when you mess with me, Simba" I said. Simba growled playfully and then pushed me off of him while trying to tackle me at the same time. Mufasa came up to us a few minutes later and smiled at our little wrestling match.

"I see you two are becoming great friends" he said. I pounced on top of Simba, pinning him to the ground and we all laughed.

"Yep, me and Anaya are best friends, Dad"

"I thought you and Nala were best friends, Simba?" Nala was another lion cub who was already friends with Simba. She was okay, I guess, but I knew for a fact that she didn't like me at all.

"We are" he replied before playfully shoving me off of him, "But me and Anaya are the bestest of friends." Hearing him say that made smile. Mufasa chuckled at us.

"Yes, I can see that."

"So, did you come to play with us, Dad?" Simba asked as he tried to pounce on me again, but failed.

"No actually, I came to get Anaya because she has to meet someone." Simba and I stopped our rough-housing at the same time.

"Who?" We said in unison.

"Scar" was all Mufasa said and the way he said it made it sound like he was ashamed to say it.

"Awesome! You're gonna meet Uncle Scar!" Simba exclaimed. Oh, so that means that Scar was Mufasa's brother.

"Come, Anaya. We must go now. You'll play with Simba again later." He said. I nodded my head and bid Simba good-bye.

"See you later, Simba"

"Okay, later Anaya" he said as he ran off toward the outer fields. Mufasa and I turned around and headed towards the outer cave where Mufasa's brother resided in.

**SCAR'S POV:**

I hated my life. I hated everything and everyone in it, especially my family. But the one lion that I could not stand is my own brother. I hated him and his good life as king. I hated how stronger and faster and better he was at EVERYTHING! I growled in frustration and suddenly a small mouse darted out of the hole it lived in and started to sniff for any food lying around, but before it could get away, I placed my large paw on top of the small, insignificant creature. I lifted it up in the air and it squealed in fear. Perfect.

"Life's not fair, is it?" I asked it.

"You see I….well, I….will never be king" I said as the little vermin ran across my paw trying to escape. I chuckled darkly and then caught it again.

"And you….shall never see the light of another day." I chuckled and began to lower the creature into my mouth, but was interrupted by that annoying hornbill that served my *growl* brother.

"Didn't your mother ever tell you not to play with your food?" he asked sarcastically. I sighed in annoyance.

"What do you want?" I answered with my annoyance of the bird clear in my voice.

"I'm here to announce that King Mufasa is on his way, so you better have an excuse for failing to meet the new cub of the pride." He said to me and at the same time, the mouse I caught earlier escaped.

"Oh now look, Zazu. You made me lose my lunch."

"Ha! You'll lose more than that when the King gets through with you. He's as mad as a hippo with a hernia."

"Ooooh, I quiver with fear" I said darkly while smirking at the dumb bird.

"Now Scar, don't look at me that way" he warned nervously as I inched closer and closer to him. 'He's mine now' I thought deviously.

"HELP!" he shouted before I closed my mouth around his whole small body. I was just getting ready to enjoy my new meal when an all-too familiar voice invaded my crummy abode.

"Scar" He said sternly, "Drop him." The hornbill poked its beak through my lips and spoke.

"Impeccable timing, Your Majesty". Noticing the scowl on my brother's face, I rolled my eyes and spit him out, reluctantly. I calmly walked over to my brother to 'greet' him when I saw a small cub next to him whom definitely wasn't my nephew. 'Great. Another pest to deal with' I thought sourly. I faked a smile and greeted them.

"Why, if it isn't my big brother whose descended upon high to mingle with the commoners" I said calmly with a hint of sarcasm. My brother must've noticed it because he rolled his eyes at me.

"Sarabi and I didn't see you when Anaya was introduced, yesterday." Oh please, does that senile fool believe that I would care if I the little runt or not?

"That was yesterday?" I asked mocking surprise.

"Oh, I feel simply awful" I replied as I ran my claws down the rough wall, creating a screeching sound in the process.

"It must have slipped my mind." That little annoying hornbill suddenly flew up to my face and yelled at me.

"Yes, well as slippery as your mind is, as the King's brother, you should've been the first one there!" He spat at me. I bared my razor-sharp teeth at him and he quickly flew behind my brother's leg like the cowardly bird he was. I looked down and saw that little cub again, hiding behind my brother's leg. I glared at her.

"Well, I was the first one there" I replied. I bent my head down towards the small cub, which I guessed was Anaya, and scowled at her.

"Until the little hairball was introduced" I growled out to her. She whimpered and hid herself behind Mufasa's leg just as Zazu did.

"That hairball is a part of my pride and you WILL give respect towards her" he said sternly. Now he has absolutely without a doubt, completely lost his mind if he thinks I will bow down to her. She's not even related to me nor is she my superior, so she should bow down to me!

"Oh, I shall practice my curtsy" I said sarcastically, before turning around and walking away from this pointless discussion.

"Don't turn your back one me, Scar" he warned.

"Oh no Mufasa, perhaps you shouldn't turn your back on me" I sneered. Mufasa roared in anger and ran up to me with a glare on his face, with the small cub following him from behind.

"Is that a challenge?" he growled out.

"Temper, temper, I wouldn't dream of challenging you" I replied

"Pity, why not?" That stupid hornbill asked. I looked at the cub again and bent my head down to her level again, but this time she backed away from me carefully.

"Well, as far as brains go, I got the lion's share." I said with a smirk, but then frowned when I raised my head to look at Mufasa.

"But when it comes to brute strengths, I'm afraid I'm at the shallow end of the dream pool" I said as I shrugged my shoulders and left my brother, the extremely annoying hornbill that served my detestable brother and the new young cub. Even though I didn't really know her, she had better watch herself because if she interferes with my plans, there will be Hell to pay.

**Alright not too bad, I think it was pretty decent, but again I welcome all criticisms because they help me get better at my writing. So as you all should know by now, review if you want a new chapter, cuz they make me happy! **


	4. Chapter 3 - Bonding Time

**Hello once again everyone! First I wanna give a HUGE thank you to all of you guys who reviewed my story. It really put a smile on my face when I saw how many reviews I got! So as a reward for being so patient, I present to you chapter 3!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Lion King nor do I own the song used in this chapter.**

Chapter 3 – "Bonding Time/ 'The Morning Report'"

**3 DAYS LATER:**

Where does the time go? I feel like I've been in the pride my whole life even though I just recently joined the pride, but that really didn't faze me or anyone else anymore. Now that I had become close to the lionesses, they all felt like and treated me as if I was one of their own cubs. All of the lionesses liked me and cared for me unlike the ones in my old pride who used to ridicule me just because I wasn't like their cubs and because of who my mother was. My mother was like me or maybe I was like her. I wasn't the fastest, the strongest or the bravest and neither was she. And because we lacked those abilities, we were shunned in our pride. As an infant, I never understood why the other lionesses refused to let their cubs play with me or why we always got the scraps of the prey we caught or why whenever we slept, every slept on the farther side of me and my mother. All of it didn't make any sense to me until one day, when I was about a couple days old; I went up to my mother and asked her.

"Mama?"

"Yes, Anaya?" she answered with a smile on her beautiful face.

"Why don't the others like us?"

"What do you mean?"

"Why don't they play with me, or talk to you or help you hunt? Why, Mama?" My mother turned her face away from me and looked out onto the horizon, where the sun was setting beautifully on the savannah. She then looked down at the grass we laid on and closed her eyes, taking a huge breath before answering me.

"We are different, Anaya. You and I are different from them." I quirked an eyebrow at her answer.

"How are we different, Mama? We look just like them." She smiled at me.

"Yes we do, but sometimes that isn't enough. Sometimes others will look at your weaknesses and they soon believe that you are not one of them, just because you might not be capable of doing the things that they can do."

"Is that why we are different from them, Mama? Is it because we can't do some of the things they can do?" She smiled sadly at me.

"I'm afraid so, my darling." I frowned and looked down at the grass as it swayed from the wind. I looked ahead and saw that some of the grass was a yellowish color while the rest was a bright green. Both shades of grass were intertwined with each other and it made me think of me and my mother being the yellow grass while the green grass was like the other lionesses. Both shades of the grass were different, but in the end, they're just grass. Part of the same creation, the same nature. It made me think that even though that my mother and I were different from the others, we were all the same. Part of the same pride, the same family. So why couldn't the others see that?

"Why haven't they exiled us from the pride, Mama?"

"Our leader and I are good friends, so he has promised to make sure that we stay in the pride protected and cared for."

"No matter how terrible this life is" she muttered the last sentence. I looked at my mother and saw the sad and pained look on her face. I got up and went to her, nuzzling her cheek in affection. She purred and returned the gesture. We both knew that this would be hard for the both of us, but in the end, we knew that our lives weren't going to be easy and that we would continue to face challenges, but that's the consequence for being different. Something that both me and my mother could handle. I blinked my eyes and though about how different my life was now then how it was before and about how it changed for the better. I turned my attention towards the entrance of the cave within Pride Rock, seeing the little stars out in the sky and how dark the sky still was. I got up and stretched my legs out, while shaking my fur out before heading towards the rock platform. A small cool breeze went past me and made me shiver a little as I stepped out of the cave and into the still present nightfall. I always loved the way the sky looked at night, how the sky looked as it is covered by the dark coat of night. I could see the little bits of pink and purple in the sky which means that sunrise was about to appear. This feeling right now, the feeling of being with the beauty of nature, of how serene and calming the sensation was and how amazing it all is was all I needed to see and feel right now. I looked up at the sky again, trying to imagine my mother smiling down at me and telling me to be happy and to have an adventure or telling me that I would be okay and that she would be watching over me.

"I miss you" I whispered quietly. I felt a tear slid down my cheek and I quickly wiped it away with my paw. A star shined quickly in the sky and I tried to believe that it was my mother saying that she missed me too and the thought made me smile. The sky began to show more traces of pink and purple and I sat on my hind-legs to watch the colors of the sky transform. No sooner did I feel a body knock into me, pushing me down.

"Oww" I moaned.

"Oh man, I'm sorry Anaya. I really need to watch where I'm going" said my best friend Simba.

"No kidding" I answered as I stood up and shook my fur out

"What are you doing out here?" he asked.

"Just looking at the stars, what about you?"

"I was just checking for sunrise"

"Why?"

"My dad promised that he'd show me the Pridelands today and I'm so excited about it that I couldn't sleep".

"Wow, that's sounds pretty cool"

Yea, I can't wait. Hey, do you wanna come?"

"What? No way, Simba"

"Why not?"

"Because this is time for you and your dad to bond and I don't want to come in between that. Besides that's family time and I'm not your family. I'm adopted." Simba didn't say anything to me and I got nervous about what he was going to say about that. Simba came up to me and pushed his forehead against mine, a friendly gesture amongst lion cubs.

"Anaya, you are my family. We may not be related by blood, but in my heart, you'll always be like a sister to me." I gasped at his statement. He really thought of me as….a sister.

"You mean that?" I asked.

"Of course I do! You're closer to me than Nala is and me and Nala have been friends since birth." I smiled at Simba and at his confession. That alone made my heart swell at the fact that he thought of me like I was his blood sister. I closed my eyes and gently nuzzled my cheek against his, showing him how happy I was. Simba did the same and nuzzled me back before we both pulled away and smiled at each other.

"Thank you, Simba. That…really means a lot that you would…think of me as if I was your sister."

"No problem, so does this mean you're gonna come with us?"

"Yes, I'll go with you guys"

"Good, now come on, let's go wake my dad up". I nodded my head and together we went back into the cave to wake up Mufasa so the 3 of us could spend some time together.

After about 5-10 minutes of trying to wake up Mufasa, we finally achieved our goal and not too long after, the 3 of us were walking through the Pridelands. Mufasa started explaining to Simba about what his role and responsibilities would be as the future king. It was intriguing to listen to how professional and wise Mufasa sounded, how he talked about the qualities of being a good and effective leader. Mufasa sometimes talked to me about the certain responsibilities that a future queen would have to assist the king, though I had no idea why. It's not like I was going to be the future queen of Pride Rock. Someone of the royal family or born into the royal family should take up that place, not an adopted, orphaned cub. I pushed that thought aside and looked at the huge smile on Simba's face. I could tell that he was literally enjoying every bit of this and I was happy for him and that surprised me. I was happy now. I was happy when I was accepted into the pride, I was happy when Zahra became my adopted mother and I was happy for Simba right now as well as the time being spent right now between me, Simba and Mufasa. Nothing was better than this moment right now between the 3 of us and no amount of hurt and pain could make me feel miserable or ruin this moment. Nothing.

"Now listen closely, you two" Mufasa said to Simba and I.

"Everything you see exists together in a delicate balance. Simba, as king you need to understand this and respect all creatures. From the crawling ant to the leaping antelope"

"But dad, don't we eat the antelope?" Simba asked. I shook my head, but smiled at him. Sometimes Simba could be such a birdbrain.

"Yes, Simba but let me explain. When we die, our bodies become the grass and the antelope eat the grass".

"Huh?" Simba said confused by what Mufasa just said. Mufasa chuckled at him and shook his head, I thought about changing the topic.

"Mufasa, I have a question."

"Of course, what is it, Anaya?"

"What is 'The Circle of Life'?" I had been meaning to ask him that question for a while now. He smiled softly at me before answering.

"The Circle of Life is the balance between all creatures. It is the natural flow of how our lives are to be everyday".

"What do you mean, Dad?" Simba asked. Mufasa contemplated what he was going to say before he answered Simba's question.

"What do the antelopes eat, Simba?" Mufasa asked.

"Umm…grass?" Mufasa nodded in approval.

"Correct" he said before he turned his attention to me as we continued to walk on.

"What do we eat, Anaya?"

"Meat" I answered simply. Mufasa smiled at me.

"Exactly. While the antelopes eat the grass we walk on, we eat them for nourishment and when we die and become ash for the Pridelands, other animals eat that grass like the antelope do and the cycle continues on and on and on. That you two…" he said while looking at us and then turning his head towards the horizon, "is the great 'Circle of Life'."

"Wow" Simba and I said in unison as we admired the beauty and importance of the Circle of Life. Zazu flew up towards us and perched himself on the rock in front of us.

"Good Morning, sire!" he said

"Good Morning, Zazu" Mufasa replied.

"Checking in with the morning report"

"Fire away"

"Chimps are going ape, giraffes remain above it all. Elephants remember, though just what I can't recall. Crocodiles are snapping up fresh offers from the banks. "

Simba spotted a mole pop up out of its hole in the ground and tried to pounce on it, but it got away.

"Showed interest in my nest egg, but I quickly said 'no thanks'. We haven't paid the hornbills and the vultures have a hunch, not everyone invited will be coming back from lunch"

Zazu gave a nervous laugh while Simba continued to chase the small mole.

"This is the Morning Report! It gives the long and the short"

"Every grunt, roar and snort"

I turned towards Simba and giggled when I saw him struggling to catch the mole. I ended up deciding to help him in his obvious losing battle against the little creature.

"Not a tale I distort!"

"On the Morning…Report!"

Simba and I jumped at the same time to catch the mole, but I ended up crashing into the dirt while Simba got head-butted by a rock.

"Owww" he groaned. I giggled at him and his failed attempt. Mufasa looked atus and tried hard not to laugh at the sight of me and Simba.

"What are you two doing?" he asked.

"Pouncing" Simba replied while rubbing his forehead with his paw.

"But we're failing miserably" I added. Mufasa smirked at us.

"Let an old pro show you how it's done" Mufasa said as the 3 of us glanced over at Zazu seeing as he was distracted. We all looked deviously at Zazu.

"Stay low…to the ground" Mufasa instructed to Simba and pushed Simba's lower half down towards the ground. I watched in silence and smiled at Mufasa and Simba, father and son.

"Yeah, okay. Stay low to the ground, right?" Mufasa hushed him.

"Not a sound" he said as Simba stared intently on his target. I looked at Zazu and snickered because of how oblivious he was to Simba's surprise attack.

"Take it slow" Mufasa cautioned Simba as he moved closer and closer to Zazu.

"One more…step…and…" he said before Simba pounced on Zazu. Mufasa and I couldn't contain ourselves, so we bursted into a fit of laughter before Simba began to sing.

"This is the Morning Report!"

"It gives the long and the short!"

I giggled at Zazu's shocked expression and laughed when I saw him scowl at me. Simba heard my laughter and turned towards me and smiled.

"Come on, Anaya!" he called. I knew what he was asking. He wanted me to sing along with him and I did just that.

"Ever grunt, roar and snort!"

"Not a tale I distort!"

Zazu tried to escape us, but Simba caught his tail with his teeth and together, Simba and I sang.

"On the Morning Report!"

"AAAHHHH!" Zazu yelled as he was thrown onto the ground by Simba. Mufasa laughed at the whole scene.

"That's very good! But this time…" he started but he was interrupted by Zazu

"SIRE! HYENAS! IN THE PRIDELANDS!" he shouted. Mufasa's face turned into an expression I had never seen before. It looked…dangerous and scary a little. He leaped over a Simba and I and started to head towards the farther-out pridelands.

"Zazu, take Anaya and Simba home" he ordered.

"Aww Dad, can't we come?" Simba pleaded.

"No son." Mufasa answered before he took off. Simba sighed and turned around and walked past me towards Pride Rock.

"I never get to go anywhere" he mumbled. I started to walk alongside Simba but said nothing.

"Oh young master, one day you'll be king. Then you can chase those slobbery, mangy, stupid pooches from dawn till dusk" Zazu said. I chuckled at Zazu and nudged Simba in the shoulder and he looked at me.

"Your dad just doesn't want you to get hurt, that's all" I said softly.

"Yeah you're right" he said and then smirked at me.

"What?" I asked.

"Race you back home!" he said before he took running.

"No fair!" I shouted at him and took off running myself.

"My prince and miss Anaya, please! Slow down!" Zazu shouted at us, but we were too far out and laughing too hard to have a care in the world.

**Alright! Another chapter completed! Just for those of you who don't know, I added the song 'Morning Report' because that was from the DVD version of the Lion King. Everything else in the story and my own is and will be the same, it's just that I didn't like how boring they made that scene in the original version, so like I said everything else is the same, it was just this part. Also in the next chapter, the Nala and Anaya drama begins! XD. So as you all know, review, review, review, if you want something new!**


	5. Chapter 4-I Just Can't Wait To Be King

**Hola my viewers! So here is another chapter for you guys and to be honest I really loved this chapter because my favorite song from the movie is in this chapter: "I Just Can't Wait To Be King". Man I love that song! Anyways, I'm extremely sorry for the long delay of this chapter. I had lots of schoolwork and recently came back from Florida so I had a lot on my mind but now let's continue with the story!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Lion King or any of the songs used in this chapter.**

Chapter 4: "I Just Can't Wait To Be King"

In my recent time of being in Mufasa's pride, I learned 2 things: Love has no boundaries and the meaning of having a best friend. When I first came into the pride, I was deeply depressed. I had lost my mother, my home, my family, all of it. And at that point I really didn't believe that I could ever be happy or even smile again, but Zahra changed that. Zahra understood my pain and how it felt to lose someone you love, in her case two. Zahra's love for me and willingness to adopt me and help me forget about my grief of my mother and my old life was what I needed to be able to move on. At first I thought that Zahra's love was just forced upon her. That she really didn't love me and that she pretended to just make me feel better, but she told me that it was genuine and that she would never pretend to love me out of pity. She told me she loved me like her own cub because she knew I had a good heart and a good character and that she understood me. No one else in this pride understood our shared pain, but all the other lionesses were very nice and caring just the same. Having a mother once again gave me my happiness again, but having a best friend was definitely something foreign to me. I never had any friends in my old pride because none of them liked me. They all used to look at me like I had grown another head or something and used to say terrible things about me because I was different, but Simba didn't do that. Simba didn't care about all of that, he liked me for me. If I couldn't do something, he would help me learn. If I didn't know something, he would teach me and most of all, he was always there for me. I always felt so honored and so happy that he was willing to help me and in return for his generosity, I always tried to the best of my ability to help him with anything. I loved my new life and everyone in it. Zahra and I were relaxing in the sun with Sarabi, Sarafina and her daughter, Nala. Nala really didn't like me although the word hate would be a better word for how she felt towards me, though I didn't know why. I haven't done anything to her at all, but I could tell that she definitely felt threatened with my presence. It was really hard to relax with Zahra right now with Nala glaring daggers at me while her mother bathed her. I tried to ignore her, but it wasn't really working that well. Simba came running down from wherever he was before towards us and I smiled at him.

"Hey Nala" he said and she smiled brightly.

"Hi Simba" she replied happily. Simba turned towards me and Zahra and walked towards us.

"Good morning, Zahra" he said politely and she smiled at him and bowed her head in respect.

"Good morning, my prince" she replied. Simba looked at me and bumped his forehead against mine. I smiled at his friendly gesture, but from the corner of my eye I saw Nala glaring at us.

"Hey Anaya"

"Hey Simba, what's up?" He leaned close to my ear and whispered to me.

"I found out about this really cool place from my uncle. I want you, me and Nala to check it out." I quirked an eyebrow at him.

"Where is it?" I asked. He looked at Zahra, who was talking to Queen Sarabi and Nala's mother Sarafina, before looking back at me.

"I can't tell you now, but I'll show you when we get there, okay?" I got a strange feeling that somehow this was going to get us in trouble or maybe I was being paranoid. Simba was my best friend and I trusted him with my life, so it probably wasn't bad, right?

"Okay, Simba" I said with a smile. He smiled back and nuzzled my cheek.

"Thanks, Anaya. Let me let Nala know" he said before walking over to Nala and Sarafina, telling Nala what he told me. I looked at the two of them and saw Nala's face light up but then I heard Simba mention my name and immediately that smile on her face vanished completely and she looked at me and scowled. I rolled my eyes at her and looked down. What was her deal with me? Simba and Nala looked at Sarafina and asked her if it was okay for the three of us to go explore together, but she just looked at Queen Sarabi and Zahra and asked them what they thought.

"Hmmm? Zahra, Sarabi, what do you two think?" I looked up at Zahra and she looked down at me and smiled.

"I think it's okay, but I also think that Sarabi should decide" Zahra answered. All eyes were now on Queen Sarabi.

"Well?" Queen Sarabi said. The three of us walked up to her and put on our best sweet faces.

"Pleeeaaaassse?" we asked. She smiled at us.

"It's alright with me" she answered. Simba was the first to respond because he jumped up and licked his mother's cheek before celebrating with me and Nala.

"As long as Zazu goes with you" the Queen later replied and that sentence alone made us stop in our tracks.

"No, not Zazu" Simba whined. Great.

"Follow me young cubs. The sooner we get to the Watering Hole, the sooner we can leave" Zazu said. The Watering Hole was what Simba told me, Nala, Zahra, Sarafina and Queen Sarabi of where we were going. But I had a feeling that the Watering Hole wasn't our real destination. I walked up alongside Simba, playfully bumping my shoulder against his and he smiled and pushed back. Nala growled silently at our playfulness and ran up alongside Simba as well and smiled pleasantly at him. Oh brother.

"So where are we really going?" I whispered to Simba.

"An Elephant Graveyard" he whispered back.

"WOW!" Nala said rather loudly, overhearing our conversation, and together Simba and I shushed her.

"Sorry, Simba" she said, ignoring me in the process, "So how are we gonna ditch the dodo?" I suddenly had an idea of what we could do to get rid of Zazu and mentioned the thought to Simba. He smiled mischievously and whispered the plan to Nala as Zazu flew down to talk to us.

"Oh, just look at you two! Little seeds of romance blossoming in the savannah, your parents will be thrilled!" Zazu commented excitedly. Simba looked at me as I looked at him in utter boredom because honestly we had no idea of what that little hornbill was talking about nor did we know who he was talking about.

"What with you being betrothed" he added. What did he say?

"Be-what?" Simba asked confusedly

"Betrothed. Intended. Affianced." Zazu answered. Simba and Nala looked at each other with confusion written on their faces as well as my own.

"Meaning?" Nala inquired.

"One day, you and Prince Simba are going to be married" he said proudly.

"Yuck!" Simba said with disgust.

"Eww!" Nala replied but then I saw her look at me with a sly smirk. For some strange reason, my stomach twisted weirdly. I never had that kind of feeling before and it made me nervous. The minute Zazu said that Simba and Nala would be getting married in the future, it made my stomach drop and when Nala looked at me just now with that stupid smirk on her face, it made me feel a little uneasy. What was wrong with me? Simba bent down to Zazu's level and said "I can't marry her. She's my friend". My stomach eased up a bit when he said that. Okay that was weird.

"Yea, it would be so weird" Nala added. Liar.

"Well, sorry to bust your bubble, but you two turtle-doves have no choice. It's a tradition going back many generations" Zazu stated, but didn't realize that Simba was mocking him behind his back. I chuckled at him.

"Well, when I'm king, that'll be the first thing to go"

"Not so long as I'm around" Zazu answered back.

"Well in that case, you're fired"

"Ah, nice try, but only the king can do that" Zazu said while poking Simba's nose.

"Well he is the future king" I said.

"Yeah, so you have to do what I tell you" Simba said as he nudged Zazu back a little.

"Not yet I don't! And with an attitude like that, I'm afraid you're shaping up to be a pretty pathetic king indeed!" he said angrily. Simba looked at Zazu and smirked at him.

"Huh, not the way I see it" he said as he leaped in front of Zazu.

"I'm gonna be a mighty king, so enemies beware!"

"Well, I've never seen a king of beasts with quite so little hair"

"I'm gonna be the main event like no king was before. I'm brushing up on looking down. I'm working on my roar!"

"Thus far a rather uninspiring thing"

"Oh I just can't wait to be king!"

Simba sang this and motioned for us to follow him, so me and Nala ran after him.

"You've rather a long way to go young Master! If you think….."

"No one saying 'Do This!'"

Simba laughed when I made a funny face behind Zazu's back and motioned for me to sing along.

"No one saying 'Be There!'"

I laughed when Simba pulled the sides of his mouth and let his tongue stick out wildly. Nala was scowling at me, but Simba didn't notice.

"No one saying 'Stop That!'"

"No one saying 'See Here!'"

We all ran out of the way and jumped on some flamingos and they splashed water onto Zazu, soaking him.

"Free to run around all day!"

"Well that's definitely out" Zazu muttered.

"Free to do it all my way!"

Zazu tried very hard to catch up with us but the flamingoes were running at super-fast speed that he had to flap his wings so hard.

"I think it's time you and I arranged a heart to heart"

"Kings don't need advice from little hornbills for a start!"

"If this is where the monarchy is headed, count me out! Out of service, out of Africa, I wouldn't hang about!"

"This child is getting wildly out of wing!"

"Oh, I just can't wait to be king!"

Once we all hopped off of the flamingoes, we saw that huge elephants were walking across the Plains and decided to run alongside them. Simba and I were laughing so much and having a blast as we ran with the elephants. Nala caught up with us and sometimes, pushed me aside so that she could be next to Simba. I rolled my eyes.

"Everybody look left!"

"Everybody look right!"

"Everywhere you look I'm, standing in the spotlight!"

"Not yet!" Zazu said as he was crushed between two large elephants.

"Let every creature go for broke and sing!"

"Let's hear it in the herd and on the wing!"

"It's gonna be King Simba's finest fling!"

The ostrich put me and Simba on its back and then climbed on top of the elephants, the hippos the giraffes, the antelopes and every other animal, until we reached the top. I didn't know where Nala was, but honestly I could care less.

"Oh I just can't wait to be king!"

"Oh I just can't wait to be king!"

"Oh I just can't waaaaaaaaaaaaaaait!"

"To be kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing!"

Simba and I leaped off of the ostrich and we found Nala before the three of us ran off together, leaving Zazu in the whole mess.

"I beg your pardon madam, but GET UP!" Zazu ordered.

"SIMBA! NALA! ANAYA!" he yelled but the three cubs were too far away to even hear him.

**Alright, alright, not too bad and I think this is pretty good considering the fact that I haven't updated in like 2 whole freaking months! Alright, now it's up to you guys to review this chapter and tell me what you think of it. So hit that button and do what you gotta do! **


	6. Chapter 5 - The Elephant Graveyard

**Hey guys, sorry it's been a while since I have updated. School really is a pain in your butt -_-. By the way, as of right now I'm going to do this story in the narrator's point of view because even though I like getting into the feeling of my characters, certain parts that I want to express, I can't do that from only one point of view and switching back and forth from one view to the other is a little annoying so from this chapter until the end, it'll be told by the narrator. So let's get this chapter going!**

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE LION KING**

Chapter 5 – "The Elephant Graveyard"

The three lion cubs ran away from the fiasco that Zazu was in and were laughing all the way.

"Alright! It worked" Simba exclaimed as he laughed.

"Yea we lost him!" Anaya joined in.

"I am a genius" Simba said proudly which made Anaya look at him.

"Hey genius, it was my idea" she said but he smirked at her.

"Yeah, but I pulled it off" he replied.

"You didn't do it alone" Nala said, but Anaya knew that she wasn't speaking on behalf of Anaya and herself.

"Please, you guys were just there to watch me work my magic" Simba said with a proud smirk, but Anaya rolled her eyes at him and then got a mischievous smile on her face.

"Oh yeah?" she challenged. Simba and Nala didn't see it coming when Anaya suddenly pounced on Simba and pinned him to the ground.

"Pinned ya" she said proudly and Simba scowled at her.

"Hey, let me up!" he said as he pushed her off of him. Anaya could see Nala was definitely upset by her actions but Anaya shrugged it off because she honestly could care less. Simba looked at Anaya and saw that her back was turned to him which gave him an idea. He grinned mischievously and suddenly pounced on Anaya's back but sent the both of them flying down a steep dirt hill. Simba hoped that he would pin her but it didn't work out in his favor because she pinned him again.

"Pinned ya again" she said with a smirk and just before Simba was about to counter that comment when a flash of steam appeared to the side of them, surprising them both. Nala slid down the hill and landed next to them and just stared in amazement with them. The 3 cubs then ascended up a little hill and came face-to-face with a huge skull of an elephant. Simba smiled excitedly at the sight because he could tell where they were.

"This is it! We made it!" he said.

"Where are we Simba?" Anaya asked.

"The Elephant Graveyard" he said as he went to the side and leaned on one of the long tusks of the elephant skull. Anaya curiously followed and then leaned against the tusks just like him. Both of them were shocked at what they saw and were amazed as well.

"Woah" the two said simultaneously as they gazed at all the bones lying all around them. Nala joined them and was amazed at what she saw as well.

"It's really creepy" Nala said.

"Yeah, isn't it great?" Simba said excitedly.

"We could get in big trouble" Anaya advised but Nala rolled her eyes and Simba smiled softly.

"Don't worry Anaya. We're just having some fun. Come on, it'll be great" Simba said as he placed a paw on her forehead. She nodded and smiled and then swatted his paw off of her head. The three cubs then looked at the Elephant Skull closely in curiosity at what could be inside.

"I wonder if its brains are still in there" Nala asked.

"There's only one way to know. Come on let's go check it out" Simba said walking towards the giant skull, but something flew in front of him.

"Wrong!" Zazu said, "The only checking out you will do is to check out of here!"

"Aww man!" The three cubs said.

"We're way beyond the boundaries of the Pridelands!" Zazu said as he nervously looked around. Simba chuckled.

"Look Banana-Beak is scared" he said and then Zazu scowled at him.

"It's Mr. Banana Beak to you, fuzzy! And right now we are all in very real danger" Zazu explained. Simba scoffed.

"Danger? Ha! I walk on the wild side. I laugh in the face of danger. HA HA HA HA!" he said confidently but then three laughing voices scared the 4 of them. Simba gasped and ran back over to his friends and all of their eyes widened when the saw three hyenas emerge from the elephant skull.

"Well, well Banzai, what do we have here?" One hyena said.

"Hmm, I don't know Shenzi. What do you think, Ed?" the one named Banzai said. The one named Ed just babbled something and laughed hysterically.

"Yeah, just what I was thinking. A quadruple of trespassers!" Banzai sneered at them.

"And quite by accident, I assure you. A simple navigational error" Zazu said nervously. They tried to walk away but Shenzi placed a paw on top of Zazu's tail, stopping him.

"Whoa, wait, wait, wait, wait, I know you. You're Mufasa's little stooge" she said with a dark smile. Zazu pushed her paw off and scowled at her.

"I, madam, am the king's major domo" he corrected. Banzai and Ed circled the three cubs and smiled maliciously at them.

"And that would make you" Banzai inquired towards Simba. Simba glared at him to prove that he wasn't scared.

"The future king!" he said. Shenzi joined her friends and circled the cubs and Zazu joined the cubs.

"Do you know what we do to kings who step out of their kingdom?" she asked. Simba scoffed at her.

"You can't do anything to me" he said but Zazu chuckled nervously.

"Umm...technically they can. We are on their land" Zazu said.

"But Zazu, you told me they're nothing but slobbery, mangy, stupid pooches" Simba reminded him. Anaya really wanted to slap Simba right now for saying that out loud.

"Ix-nay on the upid-stay" Zazu mumbled.

"Who you callin' upid-stay?" Banzai growled at them.

"My, my, my, oh look at the sun, it's time to go!" Zazu said as he hurriedly pushed the cubs away from the hyenas, but Shenzi hopped in front on them.

"What's the hurry? We'd love for you to stick around for dinner" she said, slightly baring her razor sharp teeth at them.

"Yeah, we can have whatever's….lion around!" Banzai joked and the hyenas laughed.

"Wait, wait, wait, I got one! Make mine a cub sandwich! What you think?" Shenzi said and they laughed again. Ed popped up in front of them and pointed towards something and babbled something unintelligible.

"What Ed? What is it?" Shenzi asked.

"Hey, did we order this dinner to go?" Banzai asked her.

"No, why?" she asked him.

"CUZ THERE IT GOES!" Banzai yelled as they all saw the three cubs and Zazu running away. Zazu flapped his wings as hard as he could, but one of the hyenas caught him and took him somewhere. Anaya, Simba and Nala ran as far as they could and then finally stopped to check to see if the hyenas were following them.

"Did we lose them?" Nala asked, panting.

"I think so. Come on, let's get out of here" Simba said, but Anaya stopped him.

"Wait! Where's Zazu?" she asked

"Forget him! He's probably hyena food by now! Let's just get out of here while we can!" Nala said but Anaya glared at her.

"No! Zazu is our friend and I'm not leaving here without him!" She stated. At the same time, the three of them heard Zazu yell.

"That's Zazu!" Anaya yelled and then ran towards the direction of his voice.

"Anaya! Wait!" Simba called to her as he ran after her. Nala groaned and followed Simba.

"AHHH!" Zazu yelled as Banzai man-handled him.

"And then the little major domo bird hippity hopped all the way to the birdie boiler!" Banzai said darkly as he dunked Zazu in.

"Oh no! Not the birdie boiler! AHHH!" Zazu yelled as he was blasted out towards some unknown direction. The hyenas laughed hysterically at their antics. The three cubs saw what they did and Simba glared at them.

"Hey! Why don't you pick on somebody your own size?" Simba said.

"Like….you!" Shenzi said.

"Oops" Simba said as the hyenas charged at them, trying to grab them with their teeth. The cubs ran as fast as they could from the hyenas clutches and ran up a large skull and then three of them slid down the spine of the animal and flew onto a pile of bones. They used their claws and hurriedly ran up the pile. Simba and Anaya were almost to the top, but then they heard Nala's scared voice.

"SIMBA!" she yelled and the two looked down and gasped when they saw that she was slipping down the pile.

"Hang on, Nala!" Simba said and was just about to go down to help her, but Anaya ran down the pile instead. Shenzi was coming up behind Nala and opened her mouth to eat the little cub but Anaya came in front of Shenzi, extended her claws and scratched Shenzi across the face, drawing blood from Shenzi's wound. Shenzi fell back down the hill and growled at Anaya for what she had done. Nala stared up at Anaya, seeing that she had just saved her life. Anaya smiled softly at her and got behind Nala, nudging her up.

"Come on, we gotta hurry" Anaya said and Nala nodded her head and hurriedly climbed up the pile, Anaya following behind her. The three cubs finally made it up the hill and ran into a cave but had hit a dead end. Simba looked up and saw that there was a ledge that they could hop onto and leave from. They ran up the skeleton bones and tried to jump up onto the ledge, but the bones gave out and they fell to the ground. They looked up and gasped as they saw the hyenas stalking towards them.

"Here, kitty, kitty, kitty" Banzai said darkly. Simba stood in front of Anaya and Nala and tried to roar at them, but it came out like a cat being strangled.

"That was it? Do it again, come on" Shenzi pursued. Simba roared again but this time, it sounded like a roar that could scare the life out of you. The hyenas, Nala and Anaya all gaped at him.

"Huh?" the hyenas said and then suddenly they were knocked to the ground by a huge paw. The hyenas were rolling around on the ground trying to get away from the animal and when the cubs looked closely, they saw that it was King Mufasa! Mufasa roared at them and slapped them around with his paw and they tried hard to fight him off, but were unsuccessful from their attempts. Zazu flew over to the three cubs and Anaya looked at him.

"Zazu, did you get Mufasa here?" she asked.

"Yes, I had to" he said. Suddenly, they all heard a loud roar and looked to see Mufasa pinning the hyenas onto the ground. They begged him to let them up and kept repeating that they surrendered to him.

"SILENCE!" Mufasa roared and they quieted down.

"If you ever come near my son again…" Mufasa warned them.

"Oh this is,…this your son?" Shenzi asked and then all of them laughed nervously.

"Did you know that?" she asked Banzai.

"No, me? I didn't know. Did you?" he asked her.

"No, of course not" she replied and then they turned their attention to Ed.

"Ed?" they asked and he nodded his head to which Mufasa roared angrily at.

"Umm toodles" Banzai said and they ran out of the cave as quickly as they came. Zazu flew over to Mufasa and smiled proudly at him, but Mufasa glared harshly at him, making Zazu cower. Simba, Anaya and Nala came up behind Mufasa and Simba tried to talk to him.

"Dad, I-"

"You deliberately disobeyed me" Mufasa said with anger and surprise in his voice. Simba looked down in shame.

"Dad, I'm….I'm sorry" he said quietly, but Mufasa looked angrily at him.

"Let's go home" he said harshly and walked off ahead. Zazu flew behind him and looked down at the cubs. All the cubs had their heads down in shame for what they had done and quietly followed behind Mufasa.

After leaving the cave and walking through the fields for about 5-10 minutes, Mufasa stopped walking.

"Zazu!" he called. Zazu immediately flew to him and landed in front of him.

"Y-Yes, sire?" he asked cautiously.

"Take Nala and Anaya home. I need to teach my son a lesson" he said looking over at Simba who ducked his head. Zazu flew back to the cubs and told Anaya and Nala that he would be taking them home and then wished Simba good luck. Anaya bumped heads with him before her and Nala left with Zazu.

"Simba!" Mufasa called and Simba flinched because he knew that he was in deep trouble with his father. He reluctantly walked over to him, but suddenly walked into his father's footprint and looked at the size of it. He sighed and walked to his father's side and sat next to him, keeping his face down until he finally decided to look up. Mufasa closed his eyes and looked down at his son with disappointment in his eyes.

"Simba, I'm very disappointed in you" he said. Simba looked down again.

"I know" he said

"You could have been killed! You deliberately disobeyed me! And what's worse, you put Nala and Anaya in danger!" Mufasa stated. Simba started to tear up.

"I was just trying to be brave like you" he sobbed.

"I'm only brave when I have to be. Simba, being brave doesn't mean you go looking for trouble" Mufasa explained.

"But you're not scared of anything" Simba said. Mufasa looked down this time.

"I was today" he said quietly.

"You were?" Simba asked with confusion.

"Yes, I thought I might lose you" Mufasa said.

"Huh, I guess even kings get scared, huh?" Simba said and Mufasa nodded his head.

"But you know what?" Simba said.

"What?" Mufasa asked.

"I think those hyenas were even scareder" Mufasa chuckled at his son.

"Cuz nobody messes with your dad. Come here you!" Mufasa said lowly with a smirk and then wrapped Simba up his arms and gave him a noogy. Simba laughed and slipped out of Mufasa's grasp and tried to pounce on him but his father ducked and ran away from him, laughing. Simba caught up to him and then laughed when he pounced on him biting his father's ear playfully before letting go and sitting on top of Mufasa's head.

"Dad?" he asked. Mufasa looked up at him.

"We're pals, right?" Simba asked and Mufasa chuckled.

"Right" he replied

"And we'll always be together, right?" Simba asked. Mufasa leaned up a little and looked up at Simba.

"Simba, let me tell you something that my father told me. Look at the stars. The great kings of the past look down on us from those stars" he said.

"Really?" Simba said.

"Yes. So whenever you feel alone, just remember that those kings will always be there to guide you. And so will I" Mufasa said to his son as they looked intently at the stars.

**MEANWHILE….**

Zazu was still leading the cubs home, neither of them saying anything about anything. Anaya was saddened by what she had done today and very ashamed and disappointed at herself. She knew she could have stopped it or at least walked away from what they were doing, but at the same time, she didn't want Simba to think that she was scared or too afraid to not go, but truthfully she was. She also knew that Zahra was going to be disappointed in her, not to mention Queen Sarabi because they both trusted her, especially Zahra. How could she do that? How could she betray Zahra's trust like that? Anaya felt that she was a terrible daughter to Zahra. As they neared Pride Rock, Anaya heard a rustling sound come from the trees above them. She looked up and stared before walking again. The rustling sound came again and this time a small giggle followed after the sound. Anaya stopped walking and then smiled. She knew that little giggle anywhere and remembered it very well.

"Rafiki?" she said to the trees, but there was no answer. She looked ahead and saw that Zazu and Nala were still headed towards home, not even noticing that she wasn't following them anymore. Anaya crouched down, readied her claws and then leaped onto the tree trunk and then climbed it. She sat on a tree branch and called his name again.

"Rafiki? Are you here?" she said and then the laughter came again making her smile. Then suddenly, the old baboon appeared next to her smiling brightly.

"It is good to see you, young one" Rafiki said. Anaya grinned and nuzzled her head against his side.

"It's good to see you too, Rafiki. I missed you" she said mumbled against his side. Rafiki chuckled.

"Rafiki missed you too, young one. But you seem sad? Tell Rafiki what troubles you" he asked. Anaya sighed and looked at the stars instead of him.

"I…I made a mistake today" she said and Rafiki smiled.

"Mistakes are made every day" he replied.

"I know but I feel….awful and ashamed. I knew I could have said something but I chose not too and not only that, but…I betrayed Zahra's trust and that alone is making me feel worse right now" she said sadly. Rafiki rubbed that soft spot behind her ears, making Anaya purr in content before he spoke.

"Sometimes we listen to our minds more than our hearts and sometimes de choices we make from our heads is not always the wisest, but dat does not make us ignorant. Making mistakes makes us smarter in our decisions and learning from those mistakes makes us stronger, young one" he advised. Anaya smiled at her friend and leaned against him. Rafiki was so wise and it made her happy that she had someone to talk to besides Mufasa and Simba.

"Thank you Rafiki, but what do I say to Zahra?" she asked timidly and Rafiki smiled.

"Owning up to your actions is also part of de circle of life" he replied and she nodded her head. She knew what she had to do. She nuzzled Rafiki's side one more time and looked up at him.

"I better go home before Zahra worries" she said as she started hopping down the tree until she landed on the soft grass.

"Remember, young one. De only journey, is the one from within" Rafiki said and then disappeared with a giggle. Anaya quirked an eyebrow at what he just said, but then shrugged it off and then ran towards Pride Rock, feeling stronger and smarter than she was before.

**There you go! Chapter 5 is finally done! Anyways once again I'm terribly sorry for the long delay, but I've finally come over my writer's block and am back in business so I'll start updating really soon! So review and let me know what you think!**


	7. Chapter 6 - Our Time Together

**Hey everyone! My computer was being a jackass to me and erased this chapter three times, so I literally I had to recreate it 3 FREAKING TIMES! -_- So this is the fourth time I doing this chapter so I'm glad it didn't act up this time. So let's continue!**

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOTOWN THE LION KING NOR DO I OWN THE SONG USED IN THIS CHAPTER**

Chapter 6 – "Our Time Together"

It was early in the morning and Anaya and Simba were both up and ready for today because Mufasa had promised them a special day for just the three of them. Simba glanced at Anaya a couple of times until she finally looked at him and saw the sad expression on his face.

"What's wrong, Simba?" she asked with concern.

"I'm sorry, Anaya" he said. She quirked an eyebrow at him.

"For what?" she asked.

"For getting us into trouble. If my dad had come in time to save us, me, you and Nala would have become dinner for those hyenas. I'm an idiot" he said keeping his head down. Anaya smiled softly at her best friend and nuzzled his side.

"Simba, it wasn't entirely your fault. I helped with the plan too and so did Nala so we're all at fault here, so don't blame it all on yourself" she said.

"But I still feel like it's my fault" he said quietly.

"Then….I guess I'll just have to keep reminding you of how it's not your fault" she said and it made him smile at little. She still leaned against him as they looked at the purple and pinkish sky together while waiting for Mufasa. Mufasa looked ahead and saw Simba and Anaya together out on the platform of Pride Rock and smiled. He loved to see the two of them together and he knew in his heart that one day, they would lead this pride and the Pridelands perfectly together with each other's help. He walked up to the two cubs and they turned around when they heard him approaching them.

"Are you two ready?" he asked and they nodded their heads, but just before they all left, Anaya ran back inside the cave and went up to a sleeping Zahra and licked her cheek affectionately and nuzzled it. Zahra smiled in her sleep and purred which made Anaya smile, just before she ran back to Mufasa and Simba. Mufasa smiled at her and then lead the way for the cubs to follow. The three of them walked through the Pridelands for about 5 to 10 minutes with neither one saying anything to each other. Mufasa was in the lead while Anaya and Simba were together behind him. Anaya took the chance to look around and admire the beauty of the Pridelands and how it looked before sunrise. Everything was still shrouded by the dark curtains of nightfall and looked luminous in the purple and pinkish lights of the sky. Certain animals popped out of their homes, waking up to be ready for the sunrise as well, while other animals were going into their homes from their nocturnal activities and ready for sleep. Anaya smiled and closed her eyes, breathing in the fresh scent and feeling the breeze of the nighttime air. Simba looked at Anaya and smiled at her, even though she couldn't see him with her eyes still closed. There was no doubt that Simba loved her. He loved her smile, her compassion, her loyalty, her humorous side and her comforting side. She was always there when he needed her and even there at times when he didn't know that he needed her. He was right about what he said last time to her. He told her last time that he thought of her as his own sister and he wasn't lying. That's why he loved her. He loved her as if she was his own flesh and blood sibling. There was nothing that he wouldn't do to make sure that she was happy or the she was safe. When the hyenas came towards them in the cave, just before Mufasa saved them, there was only one thing that Simba was thinking as the predators neared them. Protecting Anaya. That was his main objective and concern. There was no doubt that he cared for Nala as well, but with Anaya there was a special bond between the two of them that he couldn't explain and it made him feel extremely protective of her, like how an older brother would protect his younger sister. That was how Simba viewed Anaya. As if she was his younger sister. Anaya was sweet, warm, funny and kind and more importantly, she was the only one who really understood him. I mean his dad and mother were definitely there for Simba when he needed them, but mostly Simba would go to Anaya because there were some things that he believed that his parents would not understand and that Anaya would. And she did. It was true that their background may be different, but when it came down to it, these two cubs were one and the same and that was a real rarity for them. The bond between the two of them made them great friends and brought them closer together then they ever imagined.

After a few more minutes, Mufasa stopped and so did the cubs. He looked ahead and saw that there were a herd of zebra eating their breakfast together and he smiled at the sight before looking down at the two cubs.

"Follow me, you two" he said before he leaped away and they immediately followed behind him.

"_I don't know where this road is going to lead me, but I'm hoping that with you I can make it through._

"_I've had enough of this life to lead me"_

Mufasa hid behind a large rock and the cubs did the same. They watched Mufasa silently as he smiled and crouched down into an attack position and looked out towards where the zebra were. At first they thought that he was going to hunt the zebra but they were wrong about that.

"_Right up to the edge of the world I knew"_

After a minute of deliberation, Mufasa sprang up and over the rock and ran towards the zebra.

"_I can't wait, just to see another day, if it means it's one more day that I'm with you!"_

Mufasa laughed as he ran with the zebra through the fields and then around again. The cubs looked excitedly at what Mufasa had just done and when he called them over, they crouched down like Mufasa had done and leaped over the rock and towards the zebras, laughing as they did so.

"_Down this road, we'll look back at all we've known. Found a love that can't grow old, just passing through, from the world I knew"_

Simba and Anaya laughed and played with the young zebra foals and they smiled happily at the young cubs. Anaya reached out a paw and carefully touched the nose of one of the foals and smiled at it before licking its nose. The foal neighed and Simba smiled brightly at her as he played with the other foal. Mufasa smile at the both of them and called them over again. SImba and Anaya said goodbye to the zebras before they followed Mufasa again throught the Pridelands. At the same time, Anaya saw the sun began to rise from its slumber and shine all over the Pridelands, giving it a certain glow and she loved it.

"_I've never seen a sunrise like this one. It's like the whole world's waking up for us"_

Mufasa lead the cubs to a river and Simba carefully dipped his paw into the cool water, reveling at the feel of the water passing through his claws. Mufasa then crouched down again into an attack position and the cubs wondered what he would do this time.

"_They say tomorrow can't promise us anything!"_

Mufasa then leaped onto one of the rocks in the river and then onto the others there until he was across the river.

"Come, you two! Try it!" he said. Anaya and Simba looked at each other before Simba leaped onto one of the rocks and then when he was balanced he leapt onto the other one. Anaya was still a little nervous that she might fall in.

"_So I'll take every moment and make it enough! Yeah, yeah, yeah!"_

"You can do it, Anaya!" Simba said encouragingly and she took a deep breath before she crouched down and then leaped onto the rock behind Simba. When she balanced herself on the rock, she looked at Simba with a huge smile and Mufasa was beaming.

"Come on, let's hop together!" Simba said and then the two of them were hopping across the river from rock to rock.

"_I can't wait, just to see another day, if it means it's one more day that I'm with you!"_

The cubs finally made it across the river and Mufasa smiled at them and let them lead this time. Anaya took the lead and when she looked ahead she saw a field of butterflies and she happily ran towards it. Simba joined her and when they got really close, they stopped and counted to three.

"Ready? One….two….THREE!" they said together and leaped onto the field making the butterflies fly into the air.

"_Down this road, we'll look back at all we've known. Found a love that can't grow old, just passing through, from the world I knew"_

The butterflies flew around them surrounding them and they laughed crazily and leaped around, making the butterflies swivel and swirl around them. Mufasa smiled in content at the two cubs and laughed at their silliness. He was happy to them enjoying themselves.

"_I'll be loving your light till it fades away. Tell the world I know, cuz it will never change!"_

Simba and Anaya were on their backs pawing at the butterflies on their noses and their stomachs, making Anaya giggle and Simba chuckle. Simba then heard the sound of an elephant nearby and quickly got up and ran towards the sound with Anaya and Mufasa immediately following him.

_When something feels so right, just can't turn the page. There's too much to lose!"_

Anaya caught up with Simba and ran alongside him with a smile on her face and he smiled back.

"_We're just passing through!"_

Anaya and Simba ran through the plains with the sun beating on their backs and Mufasa right on their tails. Finally, they came to a stop and looked at the elephants playing together and it made them all smile.

"_Time won't stop, wish that we could turn back the clock"_

Anaya, Simba and Mufasa all looked at each other and together they crouched down and readied themselves and a second later they ran towards the herd of the elephants. The elephants weren't scared because they knew who they were and welcomed them graciously.

"_I can't wait, just to see another day, if it means it's one more day that I'm with you!"_

Anaya and Simba swiveled and swerved through the elephants' legs and laughed too with Mufasa running behind them. The elephants blew through their trunks happily and praised the three lions as they left from the elephant herd and waved them goodbye with their trunks.

"_Down this road, we'll look back at all we've known. Found a love that can't grow old, just passing through, from the world I knew"_

The three lions came to a stop after a while and laughed about their journey through the Pridelands and about their time together. Anaya and Simba both nuzzled Mufasa's legs and purred.

"Thanks, Dad" Simba said.

"Thank you, Mufasa" Anaya said. Mufasa smiled at them and licked their foreheads.

"You're welcome, you two" he said before he raced them through the fields again.

"_From the world I knew"_

"_From the world I knew"_

"_From the world I knew"_

The three lions laughed joyously from their morning together, but neither noticed the dirty and evil look they were receiving from afar from someone who only wanted their demise. He glared at them one last time before walking away heading towards the home of the hyenas to discuss his plan of becoming king.

"_From the world I knew!"_

**Okay, done! Sorry its late guys, but I had to get this chapter in so I could see what you guys think before I hit the hay cuz MAN am I tired, so review if you want something new! Later!**


	8. Chapter 7 - Be Prepared

**Hi guys, once again I'm updating mostly because school is out and I have plenty of time to update now! XD. So I'm happy with the reviews I received on my last two chapters, so this next chapter will hopefully be good because another one of my favorite Lion King songs is in the one! By the way, the song I used in the last chapter was 'The World I Knew' by Jordin Sparks from the movie African Cats. Also someone asked if they could use Anaya in one of their stories and my answer is yes, you may and this goes for anyone else who would like to have Anaya in their story. I fully give you my permission to use her if you'd like to that is. So anyways, let's move on with the story!**

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE LION KING NOR DO I OWN THE SONG USED IN THIS CHAPTER**

Chapter 7 – "Be Prepared"

Scar was frowning all the way from the Pridelands to the home of the hyenas. He was angry, frustrated, and basically wanted to kill those bumbling hyenas now more than ever. All he did was tell them to kill those cubs. That's it! 'How hard is it to kill 3 small cubs?!' he thought. For those hyenas, it was pretty much challenging considering that all three of them were mentally challenged, to him anyways, not to mention that those irritable cubs had the King of Pride Rock protecting them. Scar was ready to rip the hyenas' throats out for their idiocy and inability to accomplish anything, but then he got a sinister idea. He smiled evilly and continued on his way to the hyenas to discuss the plan, however, they were already grumbling and dealing with a situation of their own.

"Man that lousy Mufasa! I won't be able to sit for a week!" Banzai said with a frown. Ed giggled at the deep claw marks created by Mufasa on Banzai's backside. Banzai scowled at him.

"It's not funny, Ed" he said as calmly as possible, but Ed bursted out laughing in a fit of hysterics, which made Banzai angry.

"Hey, shut up!" he growled out to Ed. Ed was still laughing hysterically and Banzai lost his temper. He growled at Ed and then pounced on him, both of them rolling around on the ground trying to bite and scratch the other. Shenzi was up on a small ledge above them and groaned when she heard them fighting. She looked down and glared at the two foolish hyenas.

"Will you knock it off!" she yelled at them. Banzai rolled away from Ed and scowled at Shenzi.

"Well he started it!" Banzai replied, pointing to Ed who was chewing on his own leg.

"Look at you guys! No wonder we're dangling at the bottom of the food chain" Shenzi remarked, hopping off of the ledge.

"Man I hate dangling" Banzai replied.

"Yeah. I mean if it weren't for those lions, we'd be runnin' the joint" Shenzi said.

"Man I hate lions" Banzai said.

"They're so pushy" Shenzi said

"And hairy!" Banzai replied

"Stinky" she said

"And man are they…"

"UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGLY!" Shenzi and Banzai said together and laughed. However, their fits of laughter were interrupted when an ominous, but familiar voice became present.

"Oh surely we lions are not all that bad" Scar said as he seated on top of one of the high ledges. The hyenas breathed a sigh of relief when saw who it was.

"Oh Scar, it's just you" Banzai said with relief.

"Yeah, we were afraid that it was somebody important" Shenzi said.

"Yeah, you know like Mufasa" Banzai added. Scar scowled at them. They may not have realized it, but they were insulting him by unintentionally implying that he wasn't someone who everyone should fear unlike his older brother Mufasa and that made his blood boil in anger.

"I see" he said coldly, but the hyenas didn't notice his tone.

"Now that's power" Banzai commented on Mufasa's strength.

"Tell me about it. I just hear that name and I shudder" Shenzi said and then Banzai started to joke around with Mufasa's name and all of them laughed. Scar groaned and rubbed his temple.

"I'm surrounded by idiots" he groaned.

"Now you Scar, see you're one of us. I mean, you're our pal" Banzai said and Scar rolled his eyes.

"Charmed" he replied

"Ooh I like that! He's not king, but he's still so proper" Shenzi commented.

"Hey, Scar! Did ya bring us anything eat? Scar, old buddy, ole pal, huh, did ya, did ya, did ya?" Banzai asked excitedly. Scar scowled at him. He really shouldn't give the meat he hunted to them since they didn't accomplish his goal, which was so easy that a meerkat could have done it.

"I really don't think that you really deserve this" Scar said as he waved the freshly hunted piece of zebra hide above them. The hyenas immediately leaped up and opened their hungry mouths up and were drooling all over the place, waiting for that delicious piece meat to fall into their mouths and fill their empty bellies.

"I practically gift-wrapped those cubs for you. And you couldn't even dispose of them" he said before he carelessly dropped the meat onto the ground in front of them. The hyenas smiled and began to chomp down on the meat, savagely ripping parts off and filling up their stomachs with the juicy meat.

"Well, you know it wasn't exactly as if they were alone, Scar" Shenzi said with a mouthful of meat.

"Yeah, what are we supposed to do? Kill Mufasa?" Banzai asked with a mouthful of food and then swallowed it down begin digging back into his meal. Scar smiled evilly, as if the hyenas had read his devious mind.

"Precisely" he said sinisterly. The hyenas looked at him with a confused expression and then Scar leaped down from his ledge all the way down to the ground and kept that sinister smile on his face.

"_I know that your powers of retention, are as wet as a warthog's backside"_

Scar looked to his side and saw Ed mindlessly chewing on a bare bone and scowled because he wasn't listening to him.

"_But thick as you are, PAY ATTENTION! My words are a matter of pride"_

He smacked the bone out of Ed's paws and then waved his own paw in front of Ed's face, but Ed looked dumbly into space and his friends chuckled behind Scar.

"_It's clear from your vacant expression, the lights are not all on upstairs"_

"_But we're talking kings of successions"_

Scar glared at them and appeared right in front of their faces, scaring the life out of Banzai and Shenzi.

"_Even you can't be caught unaware!"_

"_So prepare for the chance of a lifetime! Be prepared for sensational news!"_

Scar hopped onto another ledge and thought deviously of the thought of what killing Mufasa would be like as well as what would happen to Pride Rock after he was dead. He would rule even better than Mufasa and have a kingdom all to himself.

"_A shining new era is tip-toeing nearer!"_

"And where do we feature?" Shenzi asked. Scar grabbed her cheek and held it tightly.

"Just listen to teacher" he advised before he released her.

"_I know it sounds sordid, but you'll be rewarded when at last I am given my dues!"_

"_And injustice deliciously squared!"_

"_Be Prepared!"_

The hyenas smiled at the thought of something that they had no clue about.

"Yeah, be prepared! We'll be prepared. For what?" Banzai said and Scar groaned.

"For the death of the king!" Scar said loudly

"Why is he sick?" Banzai asked. Scar rolled his eyes and grabbed his neck.

"No fool, we're gonna kill him. And Simba too" Scar said smiling wickedly before he dropped Banzai onto the ground.

"Great idea! Who needs a king?!" Shenzi said happily.

"No King! No King! La la la la la la!" they sang happily but Scar growled at them.

"IDIOTS! There will be a king!" he yelled at them

"Hey, but you said that-"

"I WILL BE KING! So stick with me and you'll NEVER GO HUNGRY AGAIN!" Scar proclaimed and the hyenas cheered.

"YAY! Alright, long live the King!" the hyenas said and soon the whole pack of hyenas joined them in the great news.

"_It's great that we'll soon be connected, to a king who'll be all time adored!"_

Scar smiled wickedly above his loyal subjects.

"_Of course quid pro quo, you're expected to take certain on board"_

"_The future is littered with prizes and though I'm the main addressee"_

"_The point that I must emphasize is…"_

Scar leaped down from the high ledge and openly glared at all of the hyenas.

"_YOU WON'T GET A SNIFF WITHOUT ME!"_

"_So prepare for the coup of the century! Be prepared for the murkiest scam!"_

Scar hopped onto one of the heated ledges that began to extend all the way out of the cave and into the cold night sky with blazes of fire and smoke surrounding him.

"_Meticulous planning! Tenacity spanning! Decades of denial! Is simply why I'll….."_

"_Be king undisputed, respected, saluted and seen for the wonder that I am!"_

"_Yes my teeth and ambitions and bared!"_

"_Be Prepared!"_

The hyenas were all laughing hysterically and singing along with Scar about his plan for taking the throne from Mufasa and the future king Simba. The plan was so terrible, so awful, and cruel and evil that it was perfect for Scar and that was the point. Scar had a such a cruel, cold and dark heart that he didn't care about how everyone would feel. He just wanted what he felt was rightfully his: being King of Pride Rock.

"_Yes our teeth and ambitions are bared!"_

"_BE PREPARED!"_

Scar and the hyenas laughed maniacally towards the night sky as the plan for killing Mufasa and Simba would commence tomorrow.

**Alright another chapter done and you guys know what's next: The Stampede scene! In the movie, that scene made me cry and it probably will again when I write about how it's gonna go. And befire I forget, Anaya will not be with Simba in that scene because I'm going to switch back and forth from their points of views about what is happening to each of them. So until then, review if you guys want something new!**


	9. Chapter 8 - The Stampede

**Wassup guys? Alright this is most likely gonna be the most saddest chapter ever cuz my favorite character Mufasa is leaving us T_T. I had a very hard time writing this chapter because it was so emotional to me and made me cry like 3 times, but I hope it's still good and I hope y'all are taken away by this chapter like I was.**

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE LION KING NOR DO I OWN THE SONG USED IN THIS CHAPTER**

**Simba's POV:**

"Now you wait here. Your father has a marvelous surprise for you!" Uncle Scar said with enthusiasm.

"Ooh, what is it?" I asked excitedly. Uncle Scar smiled.

"If I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise then, now would it?" he said. I climbed up on a rock, like Uncle Scar told me to, and sat down.

"If you tell me, I'll still act surprised" I bargained but Uncle Scar wasn't letting up.

"Oh, you are such a naughty boy!" he teased and I frowned.

"Come on, Uncle Scar" I pleaded but he shook his head at me.

"No, no, no, no, no, this is just for you and your daddy! You know…a sort of father/son…thing. Well, I better go get him" he said

"I'll go with you!" I offered and leapt off the rock but Uncle Scar turned around looking almost…horrified by that idea. Maybe my eyes were playing tricks on me.

"No! Umm…no. Just stay on this rock" he said as he nudged back onto the rock. I raised an eyebrow at him.

"You wouldn't want to end up in another mess like you did with those hyenas" he said and I winced inwardly from the memory of that day. My dad had long forgiven me, Nala and Anaya, but the thought and memory of looking at his angry face and seeing how disappointed he was in me was so painful that it almost shattered my spirit.

"You know about that?" I almost whispered sadly.

"Simba, everybody knows about that" he said with a pout. I frowned even more.

"Really?" I asked

"Ohhhhh yes. Lucky daddy was there to save you, eh?" he asked with a smile, but I was still sad from thinking of how much trouble we had gotten into that day because of my stupid idea. If only I had listened to Uncle Scar's advice and kept it secret, my dad wouldn't have been so disappointed in us and mad at me. I felt like a terrible son that day and a terrible future king also. Even now, I still felt that way about myself.

"Oh and just between us, you may want to work on that little roar of yours, hmm?" Uncle Scar suggested.

"Oh okay" I said glumly and he smiled before he started to walk away.

"Hey Uncle Scar!" He stopped walking.

"Will I like this surprise?" I asked curiously

"Simba, it's to **DIE** for!" he said before he continued on walking away. I was excited beyond belief for the surprise that my dad had for me. I sat down on my hind-legs and just waited and looked around this old deserted canyon, but then my mind began to drift towards Anaya and what she was doing right now at this very moment.

**Anaya's POV:**

Since I had joined the pride, I had noticed something. I have spent so much time with Mufasa and Simba that I didn't spend any time with Zahra at all and that made me feel bad. Zahra was my caretaker and my foster mother and I felt as if I had neglected her and abandoned her and that hurt my heart. Zahra wouldn't say anything and would let me enjoy myself because she knew that it was the best way for me to heal from my personal tragedy, but at the same time, Zahra was hurting far more than she let everyone else see. She may smile and laugh and pretend that everything is okay and dandy, but I knew that mask that she put on her face all too well. It was the same mask that I used to shield how I felt towards everyone here. Zahra wasn't someone who would just all her feelings out there. She kept them bottled inside and let them eat away at her heart and that wasn't healthy at all. Zahra always told me that I would forever be her daughter even if we weren't blood, but I knew deep down inside her closed heart she was still grieving over her deceased children and I didn't want to be their replacement. So, to help Zahra and her grieving, I decided to spend the whole day with her. At first, Zahra said that I didn't have to go through all this trouble and that I should play with Simba or Nala, but that wasn't possible. Simba was with his uncle right now so that was out and I knew that Nala wouldn't want to do anything with me, unless of course Simba was involved. So she was DEFINITELY out. After much convincing on my part, Zahra finally gave in and we went on our mother/daughter day trip. First, we ran through the Pridelands, just enjoying the wind brush past our faces, making us feel like we could fly like the wild birds. Then we went hunting and Zahra caught a zebra and then an antelope for us to eat and then later on she taught me how to hunt even better and that bonded us more. Later on, Zahra and I found a field of wild flowers that were so gorgeous! We lay in the grass and relaxed against each other. It felt nice to be having quality time with Zahra and just enjoying this little special moment between the two of us. My mother and I hardly got to have those special times together because my mother either had to hunt for us, and when I say 'us' I mean just the two of us, or because she was sick. You see, the other lionesses in my old pride never shared their kill with us, so my mother was forced to hunt for us and her age only made it harder for her to do that. My mother was the eldest of the lionesses so it took her a longer time to catch her prey and most of the time, the prey that she caught wasn't fulfilling. It was usually a really small or weak prey or a tiny animal. And because she had to hunt for us all the time, she became sick. My mother hardly ate her piece of the kill because she always wanted me to eat and be nourished instead of herself and that only worsened her sickness. My mother was a selfless lioness but because of it, it weakened her physically. I always used to crave those special moments with my mother whenever we had them, but now, lying on the grass here with Zahra, this moment made me realize how much I really missed those sweet times. I looked up at Zahra and saw her looking out to the horizon. She then looked down at me and smiled softly before she bent her head down and nuzzled her nose against my cheek. I purred in content and relished at the soft yet gentle touch.

"Anaya?" she said and I looked at her.

"Yes?" I replied

"I'm happy that we came here. It's times like these that are most special to me" she said and I nodded

"I never got to experience this with Kali or Mara" she said sadly. I looked at her sympathetically and nodded.

"I never really used to have quality time with my mother a lot. She was always sick and had to hunt for us, well me, all the time. But I love being here with you now, Mama. I-" I was interrupted when Zahra gasped in surprise.

"What? What's wrong?" I asked in concern. I looked at Zahra's face and saw her eyes fill with love as they suddenly became glossy.

"You….you called me 'Mama'" she said quietly and I blushed. I had never called Zahra that before and she never pushed me to call her that because Zahra believed that when I felt comfortable, I could call her that. And I was now.

"Because you are my Mama now. Now and f-forever" I said softly and my voice cracked a little. What I was saying to Zahra was true but it was touching my heart deeply. From day one, Zahra had been my caretaker and protector, but now that I looked and realized at it, Zahra was more than that to me. She was my mother and I loved her dearly for all that she has done for me and all the love and care she has given me.

"I-I love you, M-Mama" I said shakily as tears of happiness filled my eyes. Zahra's tears had already spilled over and she smiled at me with love and happiness in her eyes.

"I love you too, Anaya. My sweet daughter" she said as she licked the top of my head and nuzzled me. I nuzzled her back and sighed in content. This feeling was glorious right now. The feeling of being loved by a mother once again and knowing that my place was in Zahra's embrace. I would never forget this wonderful feeling right now, but I did wonder how Simba was right now.

**Simba's POV:**

I was still waiting for my dad to show up, but after a while I got bored. I was still laying down on the rock and kept thinking about what Uncle Scar had said about my roar. I knew he meant well and was trying to help me, but the way he said it made me feel like my roar was absolutely pathetic. I frowned and looked at this little chameleon walking off a branch and onto the hard ground.

"Little roar? Puh!" I grumbled and continued to watch the chameleon walk slowly away from me and then I got an idea. I stood up and roared at it a little but it didn't seem fazed by me. I frowned and leaped off the rock and tried again but it still ignored me. I looked menacingly at the small creature and hopped behind it and roared the loudest roar I could do and this time, it heard me loud and clear and scurried away. I smiled triumphantly as I heard the sound of my roar echo through the canyon, but then something confused me. I heard a small little rumbling sound begin to echo above me and when I looked down, I saw three little pebbles tremble and then jump up and down. What's going on? I looked ahead and above me I saw a large herd of wildebeests come running down the canyon and headed towards me. My heart sank in fear and no sooner did I begin running for my life.

The wildebeests were fast and ran in columns towards me. I pushed my legs harder and tried to run faster than I did before but the wildebeests kept gaining on me and ran faster. At first I thought that these wildebeests were here to kill me, but when I looked at their faces, I could see that they were startled by something but what was the question? But I really had no time to try and figure that out because right now, I had to focus on surviving this stampede.

**Narrator's POV:**

Scar smiled evilly as he watched his nephew run for his life from above. The plan was in motion and now the only part missing from his ingenious plan was the main star, Mufasa. He glanced at Simba's scared-self one more time and then darted for Pride Rock. Mufasa was walking through the Pridelands with Zazu on his shoulder, just monitoring the land until Zazu said something that surprised him a little.

"Oh look, sire. The herd is on the move" Zazu said. Mufasa stopped walking. Why would the herd be moving now? It wasn't their time to migrate again.

"Odd?" he said, just before Scar came running up to him.

"Mufasa! There's a stampede in the gorge! And Simba's down there!" Scar said with mock fright. Mufasa on the other hand was scared now.

"Simba?!" he said with alarm and then hurriedly ran down to the gorge with Scar and Zazu. However, Scar was grinning cruelly as he ran behind his brother.

Simba continued to run faster but his legs were beginning to slow down on him from the exhaustion he was feeling. Simba glanced up at the wildebeests a couple of times and a few of them glared at him and tried to trample him. Simba was now in between the wildebeests and he quickly maneuvered his way through them and then climbed up a small tree, but barely hanging onto the branch as the rough and wild animals ran past him.

Mufasa and Scar had finally made it to the gorge and quickly ran down to where the stampede was still running. Zazu flew ahead and went down into the gorge and searched for Simba, but was horrified at seeing the young prince barely hanging to a thin tree branch and immediately flew towards him.

"Zazu, help me!" Simba begged with fear evident in his eyes. Zazu felt such pain at seeing the young rambunctious prince scared to death.

"You're father's on his way! Hold on!" Zazu said

"Hurry!" Simba pleaded as he struggled to stay on the branch and not fall. Mufasa and Scar slid down the pathway and onto a ledge where they were able to get a clear view of the stampede. They both looked left and right, trying hard to find Simba but with no luck until Zazu came up to them.

"There! There! On that tree!" Zazu pointed and Mufasa gasped as he saw his son starting to slip off the fragile branch.

"Hold on, Simba!" he called to his son. A wildebeest ran past the tree and broke off a piece of the tree trunk, making the tree slant and frightening Simba even more than he already was. He screamed out in fear and that was the last straw for Mufasa. He couldn't waste anymore time. Mufasa hopped down from ledge to ledge until he was on the ground with the wildebeests and ran along with them.

"Oh Scar, this is awful! What do we do?! What do we do?!" Zazu asked panickedly. Scar scowled at him.

"I know, I'll go back for help! Yes, that's it! I'll go back for-" but he was interrupted when Scar back-handed him and Zazu landed against the wall and fell down unconscious. Mufasa continued to run and once he passed by Simba, he made a quick U-turn and ran back to his son but was knocked down by a wildebeests hooves. He shook his head and looked up in horror as the branch that Simba was hanging on finally broke off when a wildebeest ran into the tree and finally broke it, sending Simba flying into the air. He screamed in terror as he began to descend onto the stampeding animals but suddenly, Mufasa leaped up and caught Simba in his mouth and ran with him to the ledge again. Scar watched with a devious smile from above and smiled when he saw Mufasa get knocked over again by another wildebeest, dropping Simba onto the ground. Simba looked up and tried to move out of the way to avoid being stepped on, but Mufasa came behind him and grabbed his son again and quickly jumped onto the ledge again. He placed Simba carefully on the ledge and looked at his son with a worried expression, but he had no chance to ask Simba if he was okay because he was pushed away by the wildebeests again and then fell onto the ground with a loud thud.

"Dad!" Simba yelled worriedly. Simba searched through the stampede from the ledge, looking for any sign of his father and after a while he began to feel tears well up in his eyes. Finally, Mufasa, with a roar, leaped from the stampede and dug his claws into the hard rocky wall that he landed against, gritting his teeth as he used every ounce of his strength to hold on. Simba smiled with relief and watched his father climb up the rocky wall and hurried up the ledges, hopefully to see his father make it to the top. Mufasa was almost to the top and he glanced up and saw his brother above him with a stoic expression.

"Scar! Brother! Help me!" he pleaded as he began to slip. Scar kept that stoic expression until it finally turned into a rage filled expression on his face and he dug his claws into Mufasa's skin, drawing blood and making Mufasa yell out in pain. Scar then bent his head down towards Mufasa's and looked at him in the eyes with a cruel smile.

"Long. Live. The king." He said and Mufasa's eyes widened in horror and shock as he now realized what his brother was going to do to him. Then with a powerful thrust, he pushed Mufasa's claws off of the ledge and Mufasa fell back and down the gorge. He yelled in terror and closed his eyes as he fell and Simba stood on the lower ledge and watched in horror as his father fell to his death.

"NOOOOOOOO!" Simba screamed in horror until he couldn't scream anymore or see his father. He quickly jumped down from the ledges while the last of the wildebeests ran through the gorge.

**Simba's POV:**

I looked around the now sand-dust filled canyon for my dad, but he was nowhere in sight. He had to be here somewhere. I looked left and right, trying to search for any sign of him but still came up with nothing.

"Dad!" I called out but didn't hear him reply. I then heard a rustling sound and my ears quirked up to the noise.

"Dad?" I said softly, but a wildebeest came running towards me and then hopped over me and ran past a big lump on the ground and when I looked closer, I realized it was my dad. I gasped and ran to him, but when I looked at his face, I felt my heart drop and pain take over at his closed eyes and stilled, motionless body. I walked up closer to him and inspected his face, searching for any sign that he could hear me or that he was okay.

"Dad?" I said but he didn't answer. My heart sank again.

"Dad, come on" I begged, but still no reply. My heart dropped ever further.

"You gotta get up" I said as I tried to lift his face up but it fell back down with a plop. My heart shrunk more and I felt a huge lump in my throat at his unresponsive self.

"Dad, we gotta go h-home" I said and my voice cracked at the last word as I tried shaking him, but it didn't work. 'No' I thought with fear. I tried tugging on his ear with my teeth like I always did, but it had no effect. 'No, no, please' I thought again with desperation.

"Help!" I yelled out to something or someone but I knew no one could hear me.

_I wasn't ready, I had a right to say no_

_But you did anyway, tell me father, why did you leave me so?_

"Somebody! Anybody!" I yelled again, but I knew it was futile.

_My heart is on fire and it's too hard to breathe_

_I am begging you, so answer me this: why did you leave?_

_You were my hero and yet you leave me like this?_

_Broken, depressed and now alone in this dark abyss_

_You can no longer hear me or see me. You are now gone_

_So tell me this father, how will I move on?_

I didn't want to believe it. Not at all. My father is strong! My father is brave! My father is a hero! My father is King! My father…. M-My f-father…My….D-dad….and at that point, I knew I was broken. I had come to terms with the horrid truth of this moment right now. The inevitable truth that I refused to believe was now consuming me and my heart, eating away at me, laughing at me, taunting me, torturing me mercilessly, killing me slowly.

My father was dead.

And he wasn't coming back.

"H-h-help" I said brokenly as I finally let my tears fall. It was hard. It was hard for me to accept the blunt and obvious truth that my hero, my savior, my mentor was no longer with me. My heart felt like it was wrenched and cut up into a million pieces and when I looked at my father again, I was shot with an unbearable pain that made it hard for me to move or do anything. I walked slowly, painfully back over to my motionless father and slipped my body underneath his large paw and did the only thing I could do. I cried. I cried softly and nuzzled him. I cried for him risking his life to save me. I cried for the wildebeests that trampled him. I cried for his brave smile, his confident face, his loving embrace. Anything that I could remember about him, I cried for. It wasn't long until I felt another presence was here with me and my dead father.

"Simba" the familiar voice said and I looked up to see my Uncle Scar. He had a look of pure horror and shock written all over his face.

"What have you done?" Uncle Scar whispered. I pulled away from my father.

"T-there were w-wildebeests a-and….he tried to save. It was an accident, I didn't mean for it to happen" I pleaded to him to believe me. I never wanted this to happen to my dad. Never.

"Of course, of course you didn't" he said sympathetically

"No one….ever means for these things to happen" he said as he pulled me away from my dada and let me cry against his leg as he patted my back.

"But the king is dead" he said and I looked up at him with my tear-streaked face.

"And if it weren't for you, he'd still be alive" he said with a disappointed look. I looked down at the ground. So this was….my fault? I…I killed my…no! No! No, I would never…..but….it was my fault. If I wouldn't have roared to the chameleon then….the stampede wouldn't have started….and my dad wouldn't have to come rescue me…and he would be…alive right now. So….it was my fault. It's all my fault. It's all my fault. Uncle Scar gasped.

"What will your mother think? And more importantly….what would Anaya think?" he asked me and that broke me to pieces even more. It would break my mother's heart if she knew what I had done but Anaya…..Anaya had already been living with the demons of her past when she came to our pride and now she would find out that the guy she trusted…..the guy that she had looked up to….the guy that she had considered like a brother to her…..was a killer. I was a monster….no,…..I was a murderer.

I murdered my father.

Anaya would never forgive me and that hurt me so much to point where I was now gasping for air because it was so hard for me to breathe now. I looked up at my Uncle Scar.

"What am I gonna do?" I asked him

"Run away, Simba. Run" I backed away from him and looked at my dead father for guidance but he wasn't here to help me anymore because I killed him.

"Run away and never return" Uncle Scar said and without a moment's more delay, I took off without another word.

**Narrator's POV:**

Scar smiled as he watched his nephew run away from this scene and from the guilt that Scar had planted in him. Scar then heard the hyenas come up slowly behind him and that smile turned into a murderous expression.

"Kill him" he said and the hyenas took off laughing and cackling as they went after the prince. Simba stopped for a moment and looked up and saw a dead end. The wall was way too high for him to climb and he didn't know how to make it to the other side. Suddenly, Simba heard voices growling and snickering behind him and when he turned around he was terrified to see those same hyenas that had tried to kill him and his friends last time. Simba looked ahead and saw a small opening and hurriedly ran towards it, squeezing his body through it just before Banzai's claws could grab him. He ran ahead but then stopped as he looked down and saw that the ledge could actually kill him and was far down. He gasped and considered turning back but then he heard the hyenas' voices again coming closer. Simba, with no choice, jumped and tumbled down the hill and the hyenas ran down the hill after him. Simba tumbled off the ledge and landed in a field of old vines with thorns all over. They scratched his skin a little but he didn't have it in him to care at the moment because he was so focused on saving himself from the hyenas' hungry mouths. Banzai ran ahead but his eyes widened when he saw the all the prickled vines up ahead. He tried to slow down but Shenzi and Ed bumped into him and he landed in the field of thorns. He leaped up into the air, howling out in pain and holding onto his backside with a pained expression. Shenzi and Ed didn't care and felt it was too hilarious to not laugh and cackled whole-heartedly. Shenzi looked ahead and saw Simba still running away.

"Hey! There he goes! There he goes!" she said to her friends. Banzai pulled out some thorns from his paw and looked at her.

"So go get him" he said. Shenzi looked at him as if he was deranged as Ed.

"There ain't no way I'm going in there! What you want me to come out looking like you, cactus-butt?" she said with a smirk.

"But we gotta finish the job" Banzai said as he pulled the last thorns out of his skin.

"Well, he's as good as dead out there anyways. And if he comes back, we'll kill him" she said and Banzai smiled.

"Yeah! You hear that?! If you ever come back, we'll kill ya!" Banzai yelled out to Simba and then the hyenas left cackling and giggling away but Simba knew one thing for sure. He was now exiled from the pride.

**Anaya's POV:**

Zahra and I came back home a little while later, just before the sun finally set, and told all of the lionesses about our day. I was so happy that I felt like nothing could ruin this day for me. We were all outside just talking and relaxing just before we were all about to head inside. I found Queen Sarabi but…I didn't see Simba or Mufasa anywhere.

"Sarabi?" I asked

"Yes, Anaya?" she replied with a motherly smile.

"Where's Simba and Mufasa?" I asked

"I…I don't know. I haven't seen them for the whole day" she said with concern. 'The whole day?' I thought. 'Where could they be?'

"That's because they are not coming" a familiar but creepy voice said. All the lionesses turned towards the ledge below Pride Rock and saw Scar appear. 'Great' I thought sourly.

"What do you mean they're not coming, Scar?" Sarabi asked him. Scar closed his eyes and breathed deep exhale and began to explain to us what had happened to Simba and Mufasa. By the time he finished, it was nighttime.

"Mufasa's death…..was a terrible loss. But to lose Simba….who had barely begun to live" he said and then covered his face with his paw. I couldn't believe it. I just couldn't! Simba….and Mufasa…they weren't…they couldn't be….it just…NO! I refused to believe this! Scar had to be lying! He just had to be! I looked up at Zahra who had her head down in sorrow and I saw little tears streaming down her face. I looked at all the pother lionesses and saw the tears on their faces too. I looked at Nala and she looked so distraught by the news, but when I looked at Sarabi, I was sorry I did. She looked worse than all of us and it was understandable. She had lost her husband and her son so she was in more pain than all of us. Zazu was by her side and trying his hardest to comfort her. Sarafina, Nala, Zahra and I were on either side of Sarabi too. But the thing was, I was probably the only one who refused to believe this.

"You're lying" I said quietly and everyone looked at me in confusion.

"I'm sorry my dear, I didn't hear you. What did you say?" Scar asked me politely but I wasn't in the mood for that.

"YOU'RE LYING!" I screamed at him. Everyone was taken aback by my words and stared at me like I was some kind of demented creature.

"Anaya" Zahra tried to talk to me, but I shook my head.

"No, Mama! He's lying! He's not dead! Simba's not….he just can't be dead! And neither is Mufasa!" I yelled in disbelief. It just couldn't be true!

"Baby, I know you're hurting but-" Zahra said but Scar interceded.

"Believe me, Anaya. I'm very distraught over this as well, but I saw BOTH of them die with my own eyes. I am telling the absolute truth. If I wasn't, they would be here right now, wouldn't they?" he said. My heart was racing and my head was spinning rapidly and making me dizzy. Mufasa….Simba….Mufasa…Simba…..Mufasa…..Simba…..the y were….gone

"NO!"I screamed and then ran away from the pride. I heard Zahra call after me but I didn't and couldn't turn back. My tears blurred my vision as I ran and made me trip a couple of times but I continued on. I finally stopped running when I felt far away enough and just walked. My heart was hurting and felt that it would break apart in seconds. They were gone. Forever.

I loved Mufasa dearly because he was like the father-figure that I never had before. The leader of my old pride never gave me a sideways glance before. He just made sure that my mother and I were protected and fed in his pride, but other than that, he didn't give a care in the world for us. Mufasa did. He cared for me as if I was his own daughter and loved him like a father.

Simba.

My best friend

My confidante

My brother

I loved him so much and to hear that he was now dead felt as if my heart was being brutally torn in half. It hurt so much to think about Simba now. He was everything to me. He helped me cope with my loss from the moment I arrived and healed my broken soul with his love and caring heart. But now….It was hard to even think that terrible truth. I cried as I walked through the forest that I was walking through.

"_**Really gonna miss you"**_

"_**It's gonna be different without you"**_

"_**Time came when you had to go"**_

I kept crying for the loss of my father-figure and my brother until I tripped once again and fell down a little hill and into a small pond.

"_**For the rest of my life, gonna be thinking about you"**_

"_**(Yes I am)"**_

"_**I'll miss you my buddy, I'll miss you my friend"**_

"_**I promise my love for you will never end"**_

It was then that I heard someone's voice but it was familiar.

"Anaya?" she said. I sniffled and looked up.

"Please Nala, I'm not in the mood for this now" I begged as I trembled in the water. Nala leaped down and helped me out of the pond and we shook out our furs and looked at each other.

"I know and I'm not here to be mean to you" she said quietly

"Then why are you here?" I asked and then she glared at me with tears evident in her eyes.

"What do you think?! My friend just died and you're asking me that?! I'm….I'm…" but Nala broke down and fell to the ground and cried her eyes out.

"_**In your finest hour, I was there with you"**_

"_**And without you, things won't be the same"**_

"_**But there's a higher power that we answer to and you heard Him call your name!"**_

It made more tears flow down my cheeks because both of us were in the same position. The guy we both loved and adored and cherished our friendships with was now gone forever. Even though Nala had known him longer than me, I still felt like I had known him for a long time because of the intense bond tat me and Simba shared. It connected us and brought us closer to each other and it….healed me. I lay on the ground beside Nala and her broken form and gently bumped my forehead against hers.

"_**Really gonna miss you"**_

"_**Everything about you, your smiling face, I know you want us all to be strong!"**_

"_**Really gonna miss you"**_

"_**I know that you're going to that magic place, singing you a brand new song!"**_

"Nala?" I said softly and she looked up at me with tear-stained eyes. I smiled gently at her.

"We'll make it through this" I said as I placed my paw on top of hers, "Together".

"_**I'll miss you my buddy!"**_

"_**I'll miss you my friend!"**_

"_**I promise my love for you will never end!"**_

Nala looked at me with a surprised expression and nodded gently and gave a small watery smile. She then placed her other paw on top of mine and looked me in the eyes. We both knew that this was going to be tough for us to adjust to a new lifestyle without our beloved prince but this was gonna be our life now. And whether we liked it or not or cried about it or not, Simba and Mufasa were gone now and we were gonna have to deal and help each other through this together. Nala and I leaned against each other as we lay on the soft grass and looked up at the sky and I felt my tears flow down my cheeks again.

"Goodbye, Simba" I whispered to the sky and Nala said the same.

"_**Really gonna miss you!"**_

**There you go, everyone. Once again, this was really difficult for me to write considering how much emotion I put into it and as I said before it made me cry like 3 times, By the way, the poem that I used in the death scene was my own poem. I made that so don't go looking it up on google cuz it's an original and the song used in this chapter was 'Really Gonna Miss you' by Smokey Robinson and it's a beautiful and emotional song so I thought it fit in this chapter. **

**Anyways, chapter 9 should be up soon and please, please, PLEASE, review and let me know how this chapter was cuz I would like to know how or if this chapter affected y'all like it did to me.**

**Peace, y'all **


End file.
